July 28th, 2011: Washington at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Despite being outrebounded and outshot, the New York Liberty pulled out a 75-71 win over the Washington Mystics. Cappie Pondexter led all scorers with 19 points, with Kia Vaughn chipping in 14 and Plenette Pierson 13. For Washington, Crystal Langhorne was one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 18 points and nine boards to pace the Mystics.

For trials, travails, popularity, vengeance, and Rutgers legends who wore #23, join your intrepid and deceptive blogger after the jump.
Weekday night game- you know what this means, no introductory fun times. At the half, the Liberty are down by four, and given that it's been five on eight most of the first half, that's a miracle. The Mystics have only been called for one team foul in the first half... and that was a foul to give with five seconds left in the half. We'll ignore the numerous travels by Crystal Langhorne or Matee Ajavon mauling poor Leilani Mitchell.

Fortunately, Sue Wicks's Ring of Honor induction will make me happy. (Look, MSG flack, it's a good sign that you should stop talking if two mic's stop working when you touch them. Shut up and let Sue be awesome.)

I think my fellow fans have more faith in Victoria Dunlap than Trudi Lacey does, or at least than she did in this game. I didn't even realize she played until I looked at the box score. Kerri Gardin had one brief spurt where she looked like the dangerous weapon she was when she first signed with Washington, but was otherwise a place where we could stash our weakest defender and take advantage of mismatches. Jasmine Thomas's line looks a lot better than she really was- two of those three shots went in by sheer luck, and she looked like she was in over her head for several stretches. Her speed will be a boon to her one of these days, if she learns to corral it, and she seems like she might be able to properly learn the position. I just don't know if she's going to do that in Washington. DeMya Walker's hair looks awful, and we didn't get to see any of her trademark flops. I think that's completely unfair. If we're going to see DeMya Walker miss easy shots once she gets in position, and otherwise play like a shell of an All-Star, we should at least get to see one of her Oscar-winning performances.

I think Kia Vaughn may have gotten into Nicky Anosike's head after a quick start in the first half, because she was pretty much a non-factor for the rest of the game, and she spent a lot of time on the bench. While part of me is disappointed, because I like Anosike, the rest of me does the dance of joyous self-satisfaction. Crystal Langhorne put in a lot of extra effort and scrapped hard on the boards. I'll give her that. However, I can also be exceedingly annoyed at the four-step lay-ups and the off-the-ball holding. I know everyone does it, but she needs to learn to be subtle about it if she's going to do it. Marissa Coleman also did a nice job on the boards, but I felt like she didn't take advantage of her opportunities- Nicole Powell's inability to close out on the corner three left her open an awful lot. I laughed when she ran into a screen by Leilani. No, that is not backwards. Yes, Leilani stonewalled her with a screen. Kelly Miller was brilliant in the first half, keeping Washington in it with her shooting and running things with a steady hand. She wasn't as much of a factor in the second half, though that may have had to do with Lacey's inexplicable desire to keep Thomas in the game when she was fumbling. Ladies and gentlemen, the Washington Mystics!

Whoever punched Essence Carson in the stomach, please be aware that Kia Vaughn will find you one of these days. Kia does not approve of people messing with her teammates.

Alex Montgomery was a hot mess. I'm pretty sure she thought she was supposed to be on Team ACC, and that was why she kept passing and all but handing the ball to Washington. Her defense picked up in the second half, though. Since I'm pretty sure that's what we brought her in for, that says a lot. Quanitra Hollingsworth seems to be shying away from contact more and more as the season progresses; I don't know if she finds the physical play somewhat offensive, or if she can't take the rigors of a full season, or if something else is going on, but come on, Q. You're 6'4. Use it. Go in, grab the board, and put it back up. Don't let it go down to other players' level. Not the greatest game for Essence Carson, but she had one nifty assist to Cappie Pondexter on a loose ball that she bounced sharply to Cappie for the lay-up. It was sweet. Sydney Colson looked pretty good and more in control of herself than usual. The three-pointers helped, too. She's still not ready for the level of play in this league, but she at least looked like she could be ready.

The bad news: Leilani Mitchell is still not much of an offensive option. The good news: at least she's playing tenacious on-ball defense and putting in effort when she gets caught on a mismatch. If we can at least get that out of her, that says a lot. Nicole Powell didn't score a lot, but she showed her rebounding ability and her ability to find her teammates. Her hands were good, though I'm not thrilled about this whole thing where she's bringing the ball up while we've got a point guard on the floor; I was under the impression that that was the point guard's job, and Nicole's not such a great ballhandler that I'd rather have her dribbling than Leilani or the Whiz Kid. Plenette Pierson had a maddening game, best summed up by two offensive possessions: on the first, she left an open, fast-break lay-up short off the rim and gave up the resulting defensive rebound; on the second, she hit a contested sweeping hook thing and drew a foul on the play. There were times when she looked brilliant, and then there were times when we were screaming “PLENETTE! What are you DOING out there, my God!” Because this infatuation with the three-pointer has to stop. I mean it. Cappie Pondexter had hot spurts right when we needed them, and that's all I've ever asked of her. Win the game and get out of the way. She looked disconcerted by the Washington defense, which I guess makes sense, given who was on her, but you'd think experience would win out. This might very well have been Kia Vaughn's game, despite other people's lines. She was going inside, she was getting her shots, and I do think she took Anosike out of her game.

I do love team chemistry: after Essence took that hit to the gut that left her doubled up in pain on the logo at center court, and after she had made her way back to the bench during the resulting timeout, Plenette came over to talk to her, with body language that clearly indicated that she was going to find who did it and make them pay as much as she could. I've seen more of this kind of thing this year from this team: they're willing to stand up for each other, and they're not willing to take crap from other teams, which is a bit of a change from recent years.

These officials. I try not to comment on the officiating without having evidence or at least specific complaints. But the level of traveling that was accepted in this game was abominable. I shouldn't be able to count four or five steps. I shouldn't see a player crossing midcourt with 15 left on a fresh shot clock without losing possession. I shouldn't see a player hit in the gut with no call. I shouldn't see blatant defensive holding without a call. Twardoski, Simpson, and Holtkamp let this game out of hand, and considering the criss-crossing rivalries and points of pride in this game, we're lucky there were no serious injuries. Did we benefit from the lax calls? In the second half, yes. But in the first half, it was absolutely ridiculous what Washington was getting away with. I have said this before and I'll say it again. I don't expect perfection from officials, but I do expect consistency. Don't ignore a player being pulled off the ball at one end of the floor and then call an accidental touch foul on the other.

I'm really starting to get sick of the Rutgers boosters. Look, I understand that you're passionate about your alumnae, but the cheers shouldn't be louder for opposing players than they are for home team players. This goes double when you're cheering more loudly for opposing players than you are for your players that come from the same school. (This is why I loathe the increasing regionalization of teams. Our Girls Syndrome is mean to professionals from strange, faraway lands like Arizona and Texas.)

Finally got to meet my Swish Appeal colleague Ray! Hi, Ray!

Have I mentioned lately that I miss Sue Wicks? Because I really miss Suuuuuuuue. Yes, Sue, you don't like to speak in public, that's why you rambled for three minutes and only stopped because all of the Mystics were standing there staring at you and waiting to warm up. That's why you name-checked all of our greats and Kisha Ford. (Who I loved, and who has made quite a post-basketball life for herself, but who is not exactly VJ or Becky Hammon.)

I liked the feeling of having conquered something that came out of winning this game. We looked rusty, which will happen with a nine-day break. But we found it in ourselves to win this one. Phoenix will be a wee bit more of a challenge, though...

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July 17th, 2011: Tulsa at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The New York Liberty struck early and often, leading by as many as 34 points in a 88-57 win over the Tulsa Shock. Cappie Pondexter led all scorers with 18 points in 21 minutes. New York had four players in double figures, and put everyone on the floor for at least four minutes. Tulsa was led by the 17 points and 11 rebounds of Tiffany Jackson.

For the shame of a proud franchise, the awesome that is Teresa Weatherspoon, team chemistry, burgers, and at least one hot guy, join your intrepid and well-fed blogger after the jump.

I realize that it's a nice Sunday and people don't want to be indoors. I realize that it's still three minutes before tip-off. I realize that the Women's World Cup final is going on right now. BUT WHERE IS EVERYONE? I devoutly hope everyone's in the bars and lounges, because otherwise, this is NOT how we honor Teresa Weatherspoon, this is how we spit in her face and in the face of what she did for this team.

Just for the record, guys? Just because I'm wearing a Rebecca Lobo jersey, that doesn't mean I'm voting for her. I'm voting for Tari! Leave me alone!

Trumpet anthem. I approve of this message, though I'm not sure whether Pondexter did (that was an... interesting look on her face that was either of great pain or great... um, enjoyment).

After hearing several different announcers do different things to Liz Cambage's last name, your intrepid blogger took the direct approach and asked her. I'm wondering if some of the cross-up is because of the different accents.

And Spoon just walked in the building and we gave a cheer and the kid in front of me gave me a dirty look and if he keeps doing that I'm going to kick his chair and if he keeps doing it I'm going to kick HIM.

Halftime, and we're up in a lot of categories. We need to be more careful with the ball, though. A disappointing crowd, but maybe some of them will filter back to their seats now that World Cup is almost over.

What I'm loving about this team is their willingness to go to the wall for each other. Jones drew a charge on Essence that was sort of dicey, and got in a shot on Quanitra while she was on the ground. Nicole, of all people, was the one to throw the shoulder block as they came back up. You didn't see a lot of that last year. Now you've got players stepping up to defend and protect their teammates.

One of the luckiest women in the world is holding the flowers for Spoon, and Spoon retains her ability to work a room. I don't know if she was genuinely stunned at the level of applause she received, or if she just did a good impression of it, but... here we are, T-Spoon, and we're giving you back the passion you gave us for so many years. I almost cried- I don't know how I didn't.

Om nom nom, thirty-point win. Om nom nom, burger. Here's an example of the real communication network in MSG and its properties: in the lounge behind our section, we ran into one of my mom's friends, who asked whether we were going to the barbeque. “Barbeque?” we asked with identical stunned expressions. “Yeah, the barbeque. Go over to section 19 and sign up.” So we did. So I'm full of burger and chips and typing up Game Notes of Doom in beautiful, sunny, muggy Newark.

I didn't like Marion Jones before this because of her previous scandals and shenanigans. I don't like her now because she was flat-out gooning out there, going low on players. She contributed one nice flying block, but other than that, I wouldn't mind seeing her out of the league. Betty Lennox, unsurprisingly, looked rusty. Sheryl Swoopes still has the shot, but her famed defense is not what it was. She committed a lot of holding that the refs either didn't see or refused to believe that Swoopes could be committing, and it ticked me off. Liz Cambage really needs a post coach to show her how to use her size, because she's not using it well as often as she could. She needs to get it together and lay off the dirty play, because I know she's a nice and exceedingly dorky kid. Doneeka Lewis appeared to have found her shot in this game, and she's a lot faster than I remembered, but then she lost the shot, and I'm really okay with that.

Jennifer Lacy does not contribute all that much on the floor. She must be out there for the intangibles. (Or her accessories.) Amber Holt really looks like she was hurried back too soon, and I think that's part and parcel of the problem they're having with the training staff (two staph infections? Really, guys?) She should probably still be rehabbing, or just coming back now. Kayla Pedersen contributed nice defense and got going a little later, but didn't seem ready for this level. She'll be good, but not right now. Tiffany Jackson was allowed to travel, so she was an offensive threat, and what Cambage lacks in rebounding ability, she makes up for in boxing out ability to let her teammates get the boards, which allowed Jackson to have room. Andrea Riley has no sense out there. I've met her, and she's a very nice kid, but she doesn't have the basketball sense God gave a gnat. She's fast, and she's okay defensively, but... she should not be a starter in this league, which only goes to show what's going on with this franchise.

I'm going to say it here and I'm going to say it on every platform I have: Quanitra Hollingsworth got screwed by the refs. She fouled out of the game, and maybe three of them were fair calls. Tulsa got a lot of pity calls, and Q got the worst of it. She did good work on the boards, and I approve of her offense. Felicia Chester needs to bend her knees on her free throws, but I like her rebounding on the offensive glass. Alex Montgomery showed off her offense, and unlike the last game I was at, that didn't impact her defense. She looked like a first-round pick out there. Okay, so it was Tulsa, but still. Our reserves spent a fair amount of time playing against their starters. Sydney Colson had a nice low block on Cambage that got everyone going, because, hello, tiny cute Whiz Kid and big giant Cambage. She got her points from the line, because she kept her hands busy with the ball and thus was often in position to be fouled. The reserves spent a fair amount of time trying to feed Sidney Spencer, and the Tulsa defense spent a fair amount of time guarding her like she was Diana Taurasi, so it seemed appropriate that the last shot was hers. Her footwork is nothing to write home about, but I like her hustle after loose balls. Essence Carson was an offensive spark off the bench in the second half, though it looked like she needed her glasses checked in the first.

I really am worried about Leilani Mitchell. I know tiny guard is tiny and therefore often a liability, but she hasn't looked right- I think her back is bothering her again, and the only saving grace is that Alex and the Whiz Kid have stepped up their games. Nicole Powell didn't really contribute, but fortunately we didn't need her to contribute. Kia Vaughn had a big first half and didn't need to have a second half, though I certainly appreciated her presence after Quanitra fouled out as a deterrent to Tulsa pulling any more shenanigans. Cappie Pondexter did what she had to do, and not much else- but again, we didn't need her to do much else. Plenette Pierson started off hot and spent her time out of the game on the bike, cycling off to nowhere in particular.

Our bench outdid their starters. Our starters look bad in comparison, but it's hard to say a lot about them when they didn't play most of the game. So the brevity of comments on the Liberty starters has more to do with the epic fail of Tulsa and the win of the postgame barbeque.

Tulsa's lack of discipline terrifies me. I'm not even talking about anything that might resemble an offensive scheme or a defensive formation. I'm talking about the plethora of fouls they committed and the fouls they weren't called for. I can't remember the last time I've seen a team go over the limit with time to spare in every quarter, and there were times it seemed like the refs were trying not to call things they would normally have or would have earlier in the quarter because it would put the Shock over the limit. If strong officials don't make a point of curbing the nonsense early, someone is going to get hurt in a Tulsa game soon. The holding by Swoopes and Pedersen, the chop-blocks by Jones... it has to be toned down.

With all due respect to the Tulsa fans and the folks who write about them, the way this franchise has been pile-driven into the ground sickens me. I was never a Detroit fan- but the one thing Detroit did right was run the show. As bad as the Bad Girls were, there was never this sense that complete loss of control was only a couple of wrong steps away.

Ivory Latta looked very cute in her street clothes. According to my usual sort of reliable sources, she's out until at least after All-Star. (For reliable sources, read: one of the nine thousand Liberty fans named Mary was standing next to me and asked her.)

Teresa Edwards looked lonely on that bench, but at least she also looked stylish doing it. I want that blouse, if it comes in XXL.

So, postgame barbeque. No assigned seats, which translates to everyone seeking a table and occasionally sitting with strangers, which I'm okay with; if you're a Liberty season subscriber, we have something in common, and that's cool. Seasoning the burgers was a definite plus. The players were friendly and approachable, though some had longer receiving lines than others. I don't think I've ever seen Nicole smile so much. Leilani and Sydney blend into the crowd. Felicia's fiance is hot- nice work there! Kia showed off her dance moves and model poses. Essence and Cappie were fashionably late. We happily skipped around, schmoozed with our fellow fans, got autographs galore, and left happy. And promptly missed the train, but you can't fight fate, or something like that.

We needed a game like this after that disappointment against Connecticut- and we also needed a game where the team could show their bonding.

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July 15th, 2011: Connecticut at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Second-half shooting woes nipped a comeback in the bud as the New York Liberty lost 68-59 to the Connecticut Sun in Newark. Kia Vaughn led New York with 15 points and nine rebounds. Tina Charles had 15 points for the Sun.

For late arrivals, non-arrivals, and far too much time spent on TV Tropes, join your intrepid and uninspired blogger after the jump.

I'm not feeling an auspicious start for this team. It's past six and I'm still in Brooklyn. With all apologies to the Langhorne family, words cannot sufficiently express how much I hate the MTA. I'm going to miss tip-off, and my season ticket rep is going to hear it again about our renewal being predicated on the ability to make it to the game on time.

Tina Charles is beasting in this first half. She looks unstoppable. I have a feeling of impending doom about this, although we're only down one.

It got kinda church up in here at halftime. I'm really not sure what to think of a church group dancing to gospel music on the floor here. I don't bring my basketball to your church, do you have to bring your church to my basketball?

I... do not think it is a brilliant plan to encourage people to wear youth basketball gear on the day Spoon is being added to the Ring of Honor. Encouraging people not to wear Liberty gear? So they can get a free shirt which is also not Liberty-branded? This... is not exactly what I would call a great marketing strategy, kids. You want your logo plastered on everything, and you certainly don't want people to be afraid to cover up something that isn't team-branded with something that is.

I missed the start of the game thanks to the sterling service of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, so I can't tell you anything about the anthem, or why Danielle McCray started, or any of that other good stuff.

Allison Hightower saw time to stop the hot hand. Five billion is quite an impressive number to put in the box score, but probably not the kind she was looking for. Kara Lawson came off the bench, and people, you cannot leave her open behind the arc. She brought some physical defense, too. Kelsey Griffin did her work on the boards with some nice positioning. Jessica Moore has been taking acting lessons from DeMya Walker. Tan White was relentless and a bit annoying.

Tina Charles could have done a lot worse to us tonight, so I'd like to thank her for going easy on Quanitra Hollingsworth and Kia Vaughn. We did a better job than I expected of keeping her off the boards, though. Danielle McCray started, presumably to take advantage of our lack of size, and she played solidly. Renee Montgomery is fast. I feel like I keep saying that, but she is. I also think she's been spending a little too much time with her friend the football player, because I'm pretty sure that you can't throw low blocks in basketball. Asjha Jones got her work done in her usual style. Same for Kalana Greene, with a dose of hard-nosed defense- I think she played a large part in Cappie Pondexter's inability to put on her cape and save the day.

Felicia Chester scored! And okay, she put in decent effort, and she's got that famed “pro body”. But she needs to get overseas this winter and hone her game. I assume some of the problems about not knowing the plays and where she needs to be on the floor will be resolved with time. However, her footwork and her ballhandling need a lot of help. Sydney Colson had eighteen seconds to look kinda pretty on the floor. Sidney Spencer was, um, out there. Somewhere, at some point. Unfortunately, she did nothing relevant. Essence Carson was back to her inability to see; looks like someone needs new glasses to adjust to the lighting. At least Alex Montgomery discovered this strange new thing called offense that is so rarely seen at Georgia Tech. Her defense suffered for it, but we must all suffer for new and exciting experiences.

Paging Nicole Powell's shot. Would you please come home? We miss you very much. If you miss the robot jokes, I can totally bring them back if it means Powell finds her shot again! Because I'm sorry, no professional basketball player should miss a breakaway layup and follow that up with missing an open three. Her rebounding was all right, but she was slow on defense too. Argh. Grr. Kia Vaughn had some nice moves in the post, and did a nice job on the boards, but her passing and ballhandling were sloppy. I must assume that something's wrong with Leilani Mitchell, and that's why she wasn't diving for loose balls or exerting much of anything that could be considered proper effort. Her shot was off, her defense was lousy... we really need a bigger point guard. All apologies to Leilani and her fans, but I'm running out of patience. Quanitra Hollingsworth got the start in place of Plenette Pierson, and she did a nice job on defense, but offensively... Q, it's okay, you don't have to solve Fermat's Last Theorem in your head, you can settle for calculating the parabolic arc of your free throws. And Cappie Pondexter... I suppose I should be grateful that she wasn't trying to take over the game, but at the same time, that's what she's paid to do. Connecticut's defense did a nice job on her, but she had her moments where she could have taken over and didn't.

Our defense was pretty damn good. Our offense, however, would put the Keystone Kops to shame. Sloppy passing, sloppy ballhandling, tipped rebounds off teammates, tipped rebounds to opponents... it was a hot mess.

The officiating didn't help, either. It got a little chippy out there; perhaps playing in New Jersey brought back UConn-Rutgers memories for the five Huskies and three Scarlet Knights. There were some sketchy out of bounds calls.

Donna Orender was at the game, and was duly honored (though I do hope that they consulted with Kia before giving the Prima Donna a #15 jersey, I'm just saying). She worked her way up and through the crowd, schmoozing the night away.

We were also graced with the presence of Tweety Nolan. I am intrigued by this development.

I'm too tired to give really substantive analysis at this point, but I do think we need to pull it together on offense. We had our chances in the fourth quarter and blew them because we couldn't hit water if we fell out of a boat.

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July 10th, 2011: Chicago at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A furious second-half surge, powered by Essence Carson and Cappie Pondexter, erased an 11-point halftime lead and gave the New York Liberty an 80-73 victory over the Chicago Sky. Carson and Pondexter each had 18 to lead the six double-digit Liberty scorers. Courtney Vandersloot and Sylvia Fowles each had 14 points to lead the Sky, with Fowles adding eight rebounds.

For ratcheting up the intensity, organizational skills, a visit from the Blue Fairy, and the avoidance of caprine qualities, join your intrepid and PUMPED UP blogger after the jump.

Okay, guys, we've gotten the autograph pen sorted out, and I appreciate that. Now, can we sort out who's going out which entrance and when they're doing it?

Also, seriously, people next to me, there are maybe thirty people in our entire section to this point. You can move down a seat, it's okay. Get off my hip.

There's a lot of red in here. Cagers seem to like these weekend games, though I'm reserving judgment because the games I recall with a big Cager presence have been Chicago and Washington, which have the other recent Rutgers players who aren't with the Liberty.

At half, it's 49-38 Chicago, and it could be a lot worse than it is. There are some truly odd air currents in here, especially at this end of the floor, so I'm expecting Chicago to have more trouble with their perimeter offense. Essence Carson is back, with goggles that look more like sunglasses, and her effectiveness has been somewhat limited. Kia Vaughn is not happy with Chicago, and her temper is starting to slip a little bit, but it's all Michelle Snow's fault for kicking Quanitra Hollingsworth while she was down.

We changed seats because there was no room next to us, there were lots of kids in front of us, and the people behind us were rooting obnoxiously for Chicago. Silver lining- t-shirt! And it even says XL!

The only reason this wasn't the best comeback of the day is because of Abby Wambach and Hope Solo, but it was certainly pretty damn awesome. The Cagers who came ot this game because of Epiphanny Prince came away well satisfied with Essence Carson and Cappie Pondexter.

Dominique Canty wasn't with the team, so Erin Thorn was seeing more minutes than even her usual. She, of course, unleashed a Roaring Rampage of Revenge on the team that drafted her, hitting shots late in the clock and being surprisingly pesky on defense. Tamera Young showed her... quantum singularity... tendencies, taking shots she had no business taking. She also got grabby on defense. That's not going to end well. Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton did a great job on the boards- there was a point in the game where she was the leading rebounder. If that's what she's there to do, she's brilliant at it- just as long as you're not asking her to do anything else. Carolyn Swords saw a few scattered minutes and took a hit from her own teammate. She was there to be a reserve post, and that was what she did. Remind me again why they kept Bjorklund? Really, I don't know.

Epiphanny Prince is not a point guard. I'm not sure what Chicago is doing with this offense, but one play sticks out in my mind: second half, on a mismatch, she has Quanitra Hollingsworth in front of her, while Essence Carson valiantly attempts to front Michelle Snow. Snow calls for the ball. Prince takes an off balance jumper. Snow is... not amused. She was also sloppy with the ball. I mean, personally, I really don't care about Michelle Snow's discomfiture, though, because as far as I'm concerned she can take a long walk off a short pier and keep going. One possession, she was so busy looking for opportunities to get in a cheap shot that she kept Chicago from getting a shot off. She also seemed a little more impressed with her outside jumper than she had any reason to be. Sylvia Fowles gets away with an awful lot of tap-dancing on the baseline. There were two or three plays where we were sure that she was out of bounds, but she was allowed to save the ball in to her teammates. She looked dominating in flashes- but for whatever reason, whether it be the rotation of our defense or Pokey Chatman having unexpected brain freezes or Courtney Vandersloot and Epiphanny Prince not being sure what to do with someone that tall- flashes were all she showed. Cathrine Kraayeveld got loose for a corner three, much to our protesting in the seats, but was quiet for much of the game, and it only seems meet that she clanked the shots that could have given Chicago a chance.

If we had managed to lose that game after tying it at 60, Quanitra Hollingsworth would have been the goat, for giving up turnovers and fouls to allow the Sky to answer with a mini-run. Fortunately for Q, we won the game, so I can talk about her burst of offense and play on the glass. I think we had a brief Sydney Colson sighting, but as she didn't do anything memorable, I can't be completely certain of it. Essence Carson got her glasses fixed at halftime and came out firing. When the place was rocking with the “LET'S GO LIBERTY!” chant (that started without cues, by the way, it was awesome), everyone in the building knew that she was hitting the jumper to give New York the lead. The first half had overtones of Stevie Wonder, with her shots being off and her peripheral vision non-existent; I suppose that would make the second half sheer wonder. Sidney Spencer once again stopped a fast break, and once again it wasn't even ours! Her most important contribution might have been calling the out of bounds on one of Sylvia Fowles's rebounds- she got the call right, and she influenced the ref. (Just for the record, influencing the ref is a bad thing, but it's nice to know Spencer has some use.) Alex Montgomery had a few undistinguished minutes. Felicia Chester's wearing #41, which is just disconcerting. That's a number that brings back... memories.

I hope Kia Vaughn's okay. She sat out much of the fourth quarter for reasons we couldn't understand, and then when she went in, it all made sense, because she was wincing and holding her knee. She played solidly in the first half, and made it clear to Snow that cheap shots would not be accepted. It's a pretty bad sign when you're slue-footing your old college buddies. Do not taunt happy fun Kia? Plenette Pierson started the game as the only Liberty player who wanted to score, though in the second half she had to put out a lot more energy defending Fowles and throwing down with Snow- seriously, I thought there was going to be a fight at one point, the way they were in each other's faces, and I don't think I would have minded. Cappie Pondexter joined us in the second half and came up clutch- which is all we need of her. Personally, I consider her a mercenary, a sellsword, a gallowglass, whatever medieval term you prefer; we hire her to hit shots, win games, and eventually get us a title. She has no ties, no connections, no deep roots. When her job is done, it's on to the next one. I was shocked at how passive she was in the first half. Leilani Mitchell was... let's be charitable and say highly ineffective. She was getting tape around her thigh before the game, so that might have impeded her speed, and her shots were not helped by the Winds of Destiny Change thing the arena had going on. Nicole Powell found her shot, played iffy defense, and tracked down rebounds with exquisite vision. She's often hit or miss with those, but today she was on point and on target. Her rebounding kept us in it.

We will have to say farewell to one of the GnoD's favorite running gags. I'm afraid I have to admit that Nicole Powell is not, in fact, an amazingly lifelike android. Evidence to the contrary showed up in the fourth quarter, when the Torch Patrol brought out the cards for the rallying rendition of “Gotta Get Up”. As Whiz discussed things at the start of the timeout with his assistants, the team gathered together. Moving down meant I was able to read lips. Powell's were definitely going “L! I! B-E-R-T-Y!” before Whiz called the players to the huddle. That shows spontaneity and spirit I don't think a robot could manage. Congratulations, Nicole! You're a real girl now!

The crowd really got into it in the fourth quarter. There were several occasions when the only sound came from the fans, getting the “DE-FENSE!” or “LET'S GO LIBERTY!” chants going without cues from the PA. Old school. Amazing. It sounded like more people than there were. That's the kind of Liberty crowd I remember.

Some questionable officiating in this game. But at least we're not USA-Brazil.

I'm amazed at how we pulled it together. At least for the next three days, I LOVE THIS TEAM SO MUCH.

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July 1st, 2011: San Antonio at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: 11 first-half points from Nicole Powell and 15 second-half points from Cappie Pondexter bookended a 81-75 win for the New York Liberty. Pondexter led the team with 19 points, adding five assists. Danielle Adams led San Antonio with 19 points off the bench, while Becky Hammon and Sophia Young each added 16.

For offensive and offending rebounding, warm welcomes home, empty seats, shockingly patient point guards, and dicey shot selection, join your intrepid and candidly photographed blogger after the jump.

Greetings once again from warm and welcoming Newark, New Jersey! If I see too much more San Antonio gear in here, I may end up projectile vomiting on someone, so I apologize in advance if your Game Notes of Doom have an odd smell to them.

Essence Carson looks slightly under the weather, so if she has a lousy performance, that's why. No matter what she says. Danielle Adams is adorably personable, and not sure how to deal with people who want body parts autographed. It's like her job on the team is to run interference. Becky Hammon and Vickie Johnson lingered too long chatting with Kym Hampton, so those of us at the other end of the arena didn't get autographs. We were sad.

What in the nine circles of Dante's Inferno- NO. You do not mess with “Strike It Up”. You do not loop it. You do not segue it into anything else. It's the one thing we've managed to keep steady through the yearly game of F- Over A Veteran, through black uniforms and blue uniforms and Foxwoods uniforms, through Darsch and Adubato and Coyle and Donovan and Whisenant. WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN.

At the half, it's 39-34, and I think we've mildly traumatized our starting point guard. No, not Leilani Mitchell, our other sort of short point guard who wears #5. We're three rows behind Nadirah McKenith from St. John's and her family. Nana, if you're reading this, please don't let us get kicked out of Carnesecca Arena. :D?

The ceremony for VJ was short and sweet- one of the MSG people said some words, the luckiest season ticket holder in the world got to present her with flowers, and she made a short speech. There was also a video presentation. So many pictures of young VJ and her unfortunate hair! I miss VJ so much. This whole San Antonio thing... Carol Blazejowski did many reprehensible things as Liberty GM, and made more mistakes than you could put on a “Fire Blaze” sign, but the mishandling of VJ's free agency was one of the worst. The visiting bench shouldn't have been the one VJ was working from.

I love that VJ's jersey in the Ring of Honor is the original jersey, black with the seafoam green panels and the orange piping. History, we has it right.

That was a relief. I didn't think we were going to pull this one out. And even in the loss, I saw a lot of good things out of San Antonio. Their movement without the ball and their offensive rebounding was remarkable. (Of course, some of the offensive rebounding might have had to do with our pathetic rebounding, but I digress.)

The black is slimming on Danielle Adams, but that's not saying much. Please, for the love of all that is sweet and holy, someone find that woman a jersey that fits her comfortably. She reminded me uncomfortably of Tamika Whitmore with her mysterious insistence on shooting three-pointers when she had a bulk advantage on most of her defenders. The flopping was hilarious. Danielle Robinson looked more comfortable out there than I would expect from a rookie, but other than the drives to the basket, she didn't do much that was memorable. I'm not very happy with Jayne Appel right now. I don't like how she's setting her screens. They should not move. You went to Stanford, Jayne, you should know better. Porsha Phillips wasn't bad, but not memorable. Jia Perkins had a lot of shots go in and out, and a lot of good looks. We got lucky. I'm really not sure why she's not starting unless Hughes is being a stickler for positions. Scholanda Robinson was mostly used on defensive possessions, which surprises me, as I'm used to thinking of her as a shooter. This is what happens when players go to Tulsa- people forget their proper skill sets. She was in so infrequently I didn't even realize she started.

Sophia Young is stealthy and smooth, and I like her despite myself. I'm sitting there thinking “oh, she's not having that great of a game” and then I look up and see that she's got 10 and 5. She was a painful mismatch for Nicole Powell. Ruth Riley wasn't much of a factor, except for the times when it looked like she and Plenette Pierson wanted to get their Detroit Bad Girls on. Tully Bevilaqua, as much as I love her, has lost most of the edges she had over the years. All she has on her side now is old age and treachery, and those weren't enough. Becky Hammon started getting hot later in the game, canning her ridiculous threes and being given more steps than a recovering alcoholic. Seriously. In Soviet Russia, extra steps take you.

Essence Carson didn't play. So I was wrong about her having a lousy performance. (The box score says “injured right eye”. Ouch. Sure, you're fine, Essence.) The S*dneys stepped up nicely in her absence. Sydney Colson was the first woman off the bench, providing spurts of offense and moments where she didn't seem to realize she wasn't in the Big XII... X... whatever... anymore. Sidney Spencer, meanwhile, hit her threes, attempted mightily to play defense, and was brutalized by the officials. I mean, don't get me wrong, she rubs me the wrong way, but two of the fouls on her were ridiculous. Quanitra Hollingsworth spent much of the first half with the distracted air of a math major attempting to solve a quadratic equation in her head, and much of the second half with the intent purpose of a math major who successfully solved a quadratic equation in her head and can now focus on basketball. Her foul problems bother me. Jessica Breland was somewhat less than irrelevant. I thought she'd be a better match for Adams, but I was wrong. Alex Montgomery provided pretty solid defense and a little bit of offense, but seemed kind of lost on offense. I guess it is a foreign concept to a Georgia Tech alumna.

Nicole Powell, so nice of you to join us this season! You are, I presume, aware that the season started a month ago, but your sins are forgiven for the early threes and the late foul you drew on Danielle Adams. Well, most of your sins. I'm not so forgiving of the lapses on defense. A Stanford player should be smart enough not to make the same mistake twice. Leilani Mitchell looked like she was in over her head again; neither of the starting guards for San Antonio was a good match-up for her. Hammon's too good and Bevilaqua's too savvy. Cappie Pondexter filled the stat sheet and hit the big shots, but her defensive lapses were glaring. It's easy to notice these things when her feet are bright orange. Kia Vaughn was up and down- solid, but could have played better. Plenette Pierson put together a very nice game without me initially noticing. She kept the stupid mistakes to a minimum, which was refreshing.

I seriously have no idea how we won this game. We let them walk all over us on the boards, we kept passing the ball to places it didn't belong, we missed a lot of easy shots... but when the chips were down, we managed to make things happen. Nicole Powell drew the big offensive foul on Danielle Adams, Leilani had the steal- it all came together, in a truly Liberty way.

Angelica Suffren looked like she had some kind of issue with Spencer. How in the world can a player who's knocked to the floor by the swipe of a buttock be the player who commits the foul? There were a lot of inexplicable calls in the first half, but it evened out a bit in the second. Still, this crew let a lot of travels go unremarked and missed more than one foot out of bounds.

And then we ended up taking the same PATH train back to New York as Sue Wicks, so I spent the entire ride studiously ignoring her so I didn't do something embarrassing or collapse in a pile of fangirl squee. That was a nice finish to the night.

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June 26th, 2011: Los Angeles at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Cappie Pondexter had 22 points, 20 of them in the last twenty-one minutes of the game, to lead the Liberty over the Los Angeles Sparks 77-67. Essence Carson had 18 points off the bench for New York. Candace Parker led Los Angeles with 16 points and 11 rebounds before leaving the game due to injury.

For bleeding eardrums, that hated color, hired guns, and Jantel Lavender's penmanship, join your intrepid and air-conditioned blogger after the jump.

Hello and greetings from beautiful, scenic, downtown Newark! Oh, gods, I can't keep that up for fourteen more games. It still doesn't change the fact that it's an hour and forty minutes from my house with a lot of luck.

If you're willing to spend, Brick City Bar and Grill's a nice place for a pregame meal. The prices are a little high ($14 for a burger, up to $30 for an entree), but the servings are big, and the fries are divine. At least one free refill if you're not in the bar, too!

It has just been brought to my attention- as in, we interrupt these pregame notes to bring you breaking news- that we now have a banner up to represent our three Eastern Conference Championships. This wasn't up before, and it makes me feel a little like we're in the sports equivalent of a hotel.

I think the Prudential Center is going to be fairly popular among the older fans for weekend games. Championship Plaza is a nice place to gather and talk to friends. Not so much for night games, though.

They've rearranged the autograph gathering area a bit, so it's less convenient, but it looks like they also have both teams going through the same entrance. And there was a secondary gathering on the other side to mob Candace Parker. Holy hypothetical baby Jesus, I don't envy that woman. She was swallowed up in a crush, and that's before the kid ran into the tunnel to get her autograph. It was insane, and I don't blame her one bit for not stopping at our end. It looks like Tina Thompson has chosen to identify more with the Sparks than the Comets; the LA and Houston logos are next to each other on the shirt we're working on, and she moved it over to sign solely on the Sparks logo.

I'd recommend one more revamp: designate the bottom of section 6 as the gathering place for the people with the Sharpies and the pictures and the shirts. It's close to the tunnel, it's wide enough to fit enough people, and it has the top of the boards for when it's Devil country to use as a ledge. It's not too much of a detour for the players, and it's convenient to the fans, and it's near enough to where security hangs out that they can intervene quickly. If you split it home/road, do the same thing with section 10.

Attendance looks better than it did last game. Unfortunately, a lot of those people are wearing Parker jerseys. Shoutout to the two ladies in autographed DeLisha Milton jerseys. (No, not Milton-Jones jerseys. Yeah, that's old school.) Surprisingly few people with rainbows. I guess they'll be late to this party after that party.

I'm the only person in the arena wearing a Portland Fire jersey, but I'm okay with that. Pride weekend is a good time to bring out the Michele VanGorp jersey, don't you agree? I also have a rainbow bracelet. (I also have a husband. Mixed messages, I send them.)

Halftime, we have an eight-point lead, and I have no idea how, other than forcing turnovers from the Sparks. We can't shoot, we can't pass, and we can't rebound. However, Cappie Pondexter showed up in the last two minutes of the half in true Cappie fashion. If she does this, we're golden. That's all we've ever asked of her.

In retrospect, doing Dads and Daughters Day on the same day as New York Pride may not have been the brightest idea in the world. And it was exceptionally myopic of them to have Sidney Spencer be the player to get the fans up today. Seriously.

Spoon got the crowd going at one timeout, but if that's all they're going to do, that's a waste of having Spoon here. She's a legend and a firebrand. Honor her and have her get the place rocking.

If we lose this game by five points or less, it's Amy Bonner's fault. It's a bad sign when you're already up to “What are you smoking? This is a non-smoking arena!” in the first half. She's fond of ignoring tackles.

So despite everybody's best efforts, the Liberty pulled this one out. I honestly have no idea how they did it, beyond Cappie Pondexter doing what she was brought to the Liberty to do. I just. Honestly. I really don't know.

Latoya Pringle has unfortunate hair. Words cannot express how little Miller-twin bangs work on skinny black posts. I would have pithy commentary on her play, but she didn't play all that much, and didn't do much when she was in. Natasha Lacy has nice hands on defense, and sliced through the lane on offense, but she is where organized offense goes to die. Jenna O'Hea got loose for some threes, because apparently Liberty fans are the only people affiliated with the team who watch game tape and know that you can't leave her open in the corner, and dinged Cappie Pondexter on a hip check. Jenna, this is not Aussie Rules. Kristi Toliver brought the firepower with the four-point play (though we will have words about that later) but was occasionally not aware that this was basketball, not football, and tackling is not permitted. Jantel Lavender didn't look bad. She looked like she belonged in this league, which is more credit than I was willing to give her when she started. Ebony Hoffman has regressed badly. It's painful to watch. She needs to either lose the weight so she can go back to the 3, or develop some power moves and go to the 4.

At this point, there is no excuse for anyone not to know that Tina Thompson has range. Not at all. She's been in this league since the current batch of players were kids. (This goes double for you, Essence Carson, given how proud you are to have been a Liberty fan before being a Liberty player.) You can't leave her open for a jumper. It just doesn't make sense. She doesn't have the power she did in her younger days, but she's still a dangerous player. Candace Parker had a phenomenal first half, but went out in the third quarter with a knee injury. It looked like an ACL at first, with the way she was clutching at her knee, then at O'Hea, but she put enough weight on it that I suspect it was something else, maybe a hyperextension or something with her meniscus. But I am not a medical professional, though I was once mistaken for one on a message board because I used the word “exacerbated” correctly. DeLisha Milton-Jones got the elbows going and the little shoves in the back going, and at one point I thought she and Essence Carson were going to drop the gloves, but they were both smiling at the end. Ticha Penicheiro looked like the master conductor of offense that she is, but her unwillingness/inability to shoot is more of an Achilles' heel than ever. I think half the reason she was able to get as much done as she did was because she was facing an itty-bitty defender. Noelle Quinn was solid, albeit unremarkable. I don't remember much that she did.

And here Whiz was doing so well with putting Spencer in at the right times. The beginning of the second quarter is not the right time to put her in. Not when she has no foot speed and we're forcing defenders to make long runs to the corner to seal off the open three. Quanitra Hollingsworth put in some very nice work today off the bench, pulling down boards and sneaking in for baskets. She looked good defensively, too, which was her strength at VCU. She still needs to work on teammate recognition, but give her time on that. Alex Montgomery actually had offense! I am confused by this! She did her work defensively, but also got into the lane for shots and dishes. And then Essence Carson continued her streak of completely demolishing the reputation of Rutgers by going nuts on offense and slacking off on defense. Slacking off might be a little strong, and it didn't help that she was caught in a lot of mismatches with Milton-Jones or other big players, but she wasn't as strong defensively as she usually is.

Someone needs to fine-tune Nicole Powell's programming. I think she's been infected with a software virus that's affecting her shooting ability. (Yes, I'm going to keep making robot/android jokes about Nicole Powell until she demonstrates emotion, or at least a consistent shot.) She was useless. She was almost beyond useless, except for the steal and the one bucket. We could have had Rebekkah Brunson. We could have kept Shameka Christon. *trails off in incoherent rage*

Incoherent rage complete. Kia Vaughn was, obviously, not nearly as dominant as she was against Tiffany Jackson and Jennifer Lacy, and it didn't help that she was missing a lot of the easy shots that she needs to hit. Plenette Pierson abused the backdoor, and then started hitting outside shots. She needs to lay off the twisting hooks and finger rolls- there are no style points in basketball. Leilani Mitchell tries so hard out there, but it's hard out there for a 5-5 guard going against big guards like Los Angeles has. Toliver was more of a fair match for her, but Toliver plays mean. Cappie Pondexter slept through the first quarter and change, then woke up suddenly in the last minute of the second quarter and gave us the win. That's what we brought her in to do. That's what she's paid to do. That's all I ask of her. Kick butt, take names on the court, and try not to spew stupid comments off it.

The officiating seemed more unbalanced in its failure than usual. There were a lot of ticky-tack calls against the Liberty, while the Sparks got away with two tackles. Amy Bonner was egregiously bad in the first half, but Greene was worse in the second. We also had clock problems, but that's nothing new in this league.

We will not speak of the anthem, or of the unnecessary rendition of “God Bless America”. I'm going to have to pretreat my laundry to get out the bloodstains from where my eardrums popped and bled. And both of them screwed up the words, too. Unacceptable.

We've gotten used to Anne Donovan and her staff, and Chelsea Newton representing Rutgers, but it was a pleasant surprise to see Val Ackerman there. Huzzah for our first president!

We really tried our best to give it away in the fourth quarter, but Cappie was enough. This might well be the story of our season. That, and Nicole Powell's sorry excuse for basketball.

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June 19th, 2011: Chicago at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Tina Charles's 31 points and 12 rebounds powered the Connecticut Sun to a 83-68 win over the Chicago Sky. Sylvia Fowles led Chicago with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

For things people ought to know, somewhat random jerseys, buzzkills, and a lingering lack of Girl Scout cookies, join your intrepid and employed blogger after the jump.

If one more person asks me if I work here, I will not be held responsible for my actions. I have a tiny handbag and a Detroit Shock jersey, WHY DO YOU THINK I WORK AT MOHEGAN SUN? And if I do answer your questions out of the kindness of my heart, do not ask me if I said something completely different from what I said, and then get all huffy that I'm treating you like you just got off the short bus.

(Yes, a Detroit Shock jersey. Cindy Brown. After last week's territorial pissing match with one of the Sun fans, I decided to blow her tiny little mind. Besides, Dominique Canty might appreciate it.)

Lots of Father's Day stuff going on here. On one hand, good for them, on the other hand, my dad's mildly annoyed at him that I blew off Father's Day for a game.

I'm not sure if I like Chicago's approach under Chatman. All of them come out fairly late, all of them come off together, and Erin Thorn runs interference so everyone can get off without being bothered. Carolyn Swords, I think the kid with the sign in one hand and the Sharpie in the other might have been looking for more than a tap on the back of the hand.

We had trouble with one of the stanchions for much of the pregame. The clock was off, and they ended up having to lower it and manually do something. But we have two clocks now, and that's good.

Chicago, I'm sorry, but you cannot work that yellow with this many blondes on your team. It is heinous. It is almost as bad as Erin attempting to dance. Yes, Erin, we see you. Dominique Canty you are not.

Connecticut's up 15 at the half, and I'm really surprised at Chicago. You would think Pokey Chatman would have a better notion of how to use Fowles in the paint, but she keeps bringing her out high. I don't get it. Vandersloot also looks like she might be in over her head. She's relying a lot on speed, and that's not going to do her any good.

And if this woman in the row in front of me turns around and gives me any more dirty looks because I have my computer out, there are a few places I'd like to tell her where to go in language more colorful than a rainbow flag and saltier than an arena pretzel. But we'll probably be going into more detail about that later. Lots more detail. David and Holly are not going to be happy with me.

Well, the posts woke up in the second half, at least offensively, but the Sky's rebounding went absolutely dead. I don't understand it.

So, anthem notes: beautifully done by a middle school choir. I approve this message, but not the people who came in late during it.

I suppose it's a natural reaction for someone who gets into a league, this sudden realization that the players you remembered as young, wide-eyed rookies are now the seasoned veterans at the end of their careers. That's the double-take I always do with Tangela Smith, Ticha Penicheiro- and Dominique Canty. It's odd to see the end of a career when you remember its beginning. She played sparingly, at the ends of quarters and halves, as a veteran presence. Same deal with Erin Thorn, who was in as a spot shooter. There was a hilarious moment in which Cathrine Kraayeveld blew a play and Erin was exceedingly not amused. I think she might have even said “darn!”. Carolyn Swords is awfully grabby. I think I remember her being that way at BC, so I'm not surprised, but she's going to have to control that instinct if she wants to continue being a reserve in this league. Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton was their sixth woman, and brought a lot of hustle off their bench. Not always the greatest judgment, but she seemed to be in the right place at the right time a lot of the time.

Cathrine Kraayeveld needs to stop admiring her shot. It's a nice shot, but it's not drop-your-jaw-and-stare gorgeous. Stop admiring and start following your shot, or I'm going to hunt you down and slap you upside the head, and then run very quickly away because you're the 6'4” daughter of a football player. Courtney Vandersloot struck me as a player who will eventually be a point guard of epic win, but for now she's a young point guard who doesn't completely know her roster and the speed of the game, and might be in over her head a little bit. She's fast and she's smart, and she needs seasoning. Michelle Snow, please, enough with the feigned innocence. If you horse-collar tackle a player to the ground, it is a foul. Stop acting like it isn't. I really thought she and Asjha Jones were going to throw down in some good old fashioned UConn-Tennessee hatred. They were going back and forth with the forearms and the pushes. People in Connecticut really need to realize that Epiphanny Prince can hit the three. You'd think they'd have remembered this for some reason. It's like she played at a school that played against Connecticut a lot. I have no earthly idea why she was bringing the ball up at any time that Vandersloot was in the game. I think her decision-making suffered in the second half when she got tired- she played almost the entire game. Sylvia Fowles spent far too much time in the high post and outside the paint in the first half. She was much more assertive in the second half, and more willing to go inside. She was big on deflecting offensive rebounds out to the three-point line- it worked two out of the three times that she did it.

Danielle McCray's shooting touch has cooled since I've seen her last, but I like how aggressive she's being. She's making her presence felt out there, in bruises if not in field goals. Jessica Moore finally got into the game; I'm not sure if this is the first time this season, or just the first time in Connecticut. She, uh, was tall out there. Let's go with that. Kara Lawson got kicked to the bench. I'm not sure if Thibault is disappointed in her, or if he wanted to play matchups out there and have Griffin to match up against Kraayeveld. The 13 points off the bench make me think she didn't like it, though. Someone might want to remind her that she's not playing football anymore and she's a really lousy quarterback. DeMya Walker's... derriere... continues to be a weapon of mass destruction, and she definitely has her uses on the defensive end. There was one play that had us laughing- she drew a charge on a pretty blatant flop, and was then pulled from the game; we joked that she had to go receive her Oscar. Tan White had a really nice defensive play on... I want to say it was Vandersloot or Prince (yes, I know, it's easy to tell the difference, but memory only tells me it was a fast Chicago guard) but wasn't much of a factor offensively.

The scary part is that Tina Charles could have played better. And that's with the 31 points and the 12 rebounds. I'm talking about the easy shots she missed in the first half, and her lackadaisical defense on Fowles. Yes, that means that 31 and 12 isn't the pinnacle of her abilities. That says volumes about her. Renee Montgomery must have been told to stop taking threes; she responded by going on pell-mell drives that Becky Hammon would have thought were ill-advised. I really don't know what to make of Montgomery sometimes. She must be one of the most frustrating players to have on one's team. Kelsey Griffin did some work on the offensive glass. She was mostly out there to toy with matchups and get rebounds, so she must have done her job, but that's not a lineup I'd go with on a regular basis. Kalana Greene had a couple of nice shots, but she wasn't a big factor in this one. Asjha Jones showed up late to the party, being pretty much useless in the first half and surprisingly useful in the second half. (She makes a lousy lasagna these days, though. Too much sauce.)

We sort of realized that this was going to be a questionably officiated game when the name Gulbeyan was uttered. And I'm really disappointed in Felicia Grinter. She's backslid. Running around in bad company, I suppose. There was a really horrible call that was given to Walker as a three-second violation when Snow was wrapped around her like a spider. (Or, if you want to be nerdy, like Gollum trying to get the One Ring from Frodo.) We protested that call quite loudly. Some of the later calls were ridiculous as well, and there was booing. Also, Chatman and Kraayeveld kept up the pretense of making it a game too long.

Special consideration must be given to the sour old bat in section 119, row A, seat 7. When we're cheering for Connecticut, stop telling us to be quiet. No, seriously, who comes to a basketball game at an arena to be quiet? Especially since her actions during the game made it clear that she was a UConn fan, and one of only recent vintage, given how much she applauded Montgomery and Charles, but not Jones. So if you were the cranky old hag telling people to be quiet at a basketball game, here's to you. I hope that if you're ever at MSG, the Prudential Center, or Carnesecca Arena, we have the opportunity to extend to you the same respect for your fandom that you did to ours. Bring earplugs.

(As an aside, this is the second run-in we've had with a local fan in two games, after long periods of peace. Not a good sign. Not a good sign at all. I may no longer be a Scarlet woman, but I still don't like the cult-like followers of the Huskies, and if that's the fan base the Sun want to attract, they're going to scare off a lot of casual fans.)

After the game, we went to our usual stomping grounds and chatted with some friendly Sun fans while working on this year's shirt. The Chicago players were friendly enough, though I think it helped that there weren't that many people there. It amuses me that Cathrine Kraayeveld appears to be another of the “hair dryers are not for me!” persuasion, or at least that's why I assume she came by with her hair wet. (Don't worry, Kraay. You're not the only one. I only use hair dryers for special occasions like proms and weddings.) We also saw a few of the Sun players; either per diem is better than I thought, three people together are stronger than one alone, Sun players get employee discounts, or Jessica Moore doesn't know the local restaurants yet, since she suggested Tuscany to her friends.

I'm surprised at Chicago. I'm surprised at Connecticut. I'm surprised at a lot of things. Mostly I'm very tired, but hey, won on the slots. Life's pretty good when that happens.

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June 14th, 2011: Atlanta at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: Despite 21 points from Essence Carson, the Liberty trailed by as much as 23 in their loss to Atlanta, 79-58. The Dream were led by Angel McCoughtry's 18 points.

For frustration, trains, aggravation, buses, irritation, and automobiles, join your intrepid and achy blogger after the jump.

Fail. Epic fail. That is about the best description I can come up with right now, since “Can you pass me that rum? No, the whole bottle, please” might be a tad bit inappropriate.

You get no pregame fun times report because it takes me an hour and a half to get from my job to the Prudential Center, so when I leave at 5:30, I get to my seat right when the ref throws the ball in the air. So no anthem report, no pregame shootaround notes, no opinions on players' personalities, just frothing and seething at having to take a bus, a subway, and two PATH trains to a hike across a shopping area with a homeless guy smoking a cigarette and end up watching a lousy first half and a pathetic excuse of a second half from the Liberty. I can't do this hike next year. I don't even know if I want to do it next month.

Kelly Mazzante can still shoot, but that might be all she can do; of course, one might argue that that's all she could ever do. I... wouldn't have thought Plenette Pierson was her type, but I can't argue with that rather blatant grab around Plenette's... chest. Sandora Irvin seemed to be the only Atlanta player that the referees wanted to call fouls on. She slithered her way into the paint for a couple of nice offensive rebounds. Shalee Lehning scraps and hustles, but I didn't think she ran the team with the kind of authority she did last year. Of course, that might just be because she doesn't have the authority she did last year. Armintie Price still only has one speed and has reverted to her earlier lack of coordination. She's there for defense, and she's good at that, but she needs to lay off the shooting. Alison Bales was mostly used to set picks and scare the daylights out of Kia Vaughn; she wasn't really looking for her shot, but she didn't have to be. Coco Miller seemed to have taken her inspiration from the NBA Finals, what with the extra steps and the acrobatic shots, and dear gods, Colleen Mary Miller, you were not meant for acrobatic twisting layups.

Iziane Castro Marques has such a pretty shot- it's too pretty for her own good, given how much time she spends standing there and admiring it. If I were an Atlanta fan, I'd be infuriated that she didn't follow her shot. I have no idea why we kept leaving her open. She can shoot, y'know, Libs. Lindsey Harding didn't really make her presence felt. It's hard to believe a team can have such good offense without a point guard imposing her will on them, but who needs point guards when you have bruising posts and opponents who can't get out of their own way? Angel McCoughtry really just needs to keep her mouth shut and play. When she plays, she's beautiful to watch, a storm in control. When she starts running her mouth, she comes off as a petulant little brat. And I'd much rather watch her be a marvel of ability on both ends of the floor than want to hit her with a thunderstick. Sancho Lyttle seems to be fancying herself an outside shooter ever since that bizarre incident with the three-point shot pass, and I'm grateful for that, because if she had decided to go inside, we probably would have lost by thirty-five. If this is part of the Dream's strategy, I can see why they've struggled in the early going. Good thing for them that they have Érika deSouza. She was a beast inside. Of course, if the officials decide to call three seconds, she's a non-factor, but having faith in the referees to count is a silly, silly thing.

Guys! You guys! We had a Sydney Colson sighting! Hi... what are we going to call you? Your name is a homophone of Sidney Spencer's, so the variants on that aren't going to work. And you might be the Whiz Kid, but our coach is Whiz. What are we going to do? Other than watch you make stylish lay-ups and carry lots of hair onto the court? So hi, Sydney Colson! The other S*dney played too, and I think Whiz is bound and determined to make us like Spencer by not playing her at moments when it would seem appropriate. After he started off using the hand he was dealt well, his average has gone down to about .250. She's hopeless, but at least she can shoot. Alex Montgomery had some nice defensive plays, but dear God can she not shoot on the professional level. Sort of like a lower-to-middle-class man's Armintie Price. Quanitra Hollingsworth... not her night. Just. Not her night. On so many levels. Between the boxing out of teammates, the flubbed passes, the botched defensive assignments, and all of the other assorted errors, I think she might want to forget this day ever happened. (Suits me.) Jessica Breland was awful on offense, but had a monster block that got the sparse handfuls on their feet. Leilani Mitchell played a little bit, but her shots were off, though she got down for a couple of loose balls. I suspect her back was acting up, though.

Paging Cappie Pondexter. Cappie Pondexter to the courtesy phone. Has anyone seen Cappie Pondexter? She wasn't even relevant enough to the game to be bad. She was simply irrelevant. Nicole Powell was such a non-factor that I kept shouting “NICOLE DID SOMETHING!” when she got a rebound or hit a shot. I think I did it three times- a rebound, a shot, and a steal. Plenette Pierson started off well enough, but descended quickly into a lot of standing around and blowing assignments. I was honestly surprised that she had five fouls because I didn't think she'd been in position enough times to get in foul trouble. Kia Vaughn had a nice offensive game, but I think she gave up as many points as she scored, and let's not go into the rebounding. At least Essence Carson showed up for the first half, looking like she wanted to have a highlight reel all her own. Unfortunately, the Dream found an answer for her in the second half.

I wish I could say I've never seen this team so discombobulated, so unaware of who they should be passing to, so eager to box each other out for rebounds, so clueless about their height or lack thereof. But, well, I survived the Season of Fail in 2006. You can't scare me anymore. I don't know why a bunch of professional basketball players didn't look like they knew how to play basketball, but I'm used to it. I don't even know where to start, whether the players couldn't play or the coach couldn't coach. I just... throw my hands in the air.

There was the usual array of buffoonery from the officials, which disappoints me, because I expect better from Denise Brooks- but I think she was saddled with Scott Twadarski, which is never going to end well. DeSouza set up shop in the lane, everyone got away with traveling, Leilani caught a stray elbow, no one seemed to know how to handle out of bounds...

But really, one of the most egregious problems with this game was the attendance. I refuse to call it a crowd. Standing room only on the E train that took me home was crowded. Ten thousand at the Garden is crowded. If there were four thousand people at the Prudential Center, that's a lot. There were a lot of late arrivals, too. 7PM on weeknights is untenable. Three seasons of this will kill the team.

I have to give a shoutout to the obsession of Atlanta fans who made the trip to New York. (For those of you who have not met me: I use 'obsession' as the collective noun for a group of fans, especially in the context of travel. Referees come in confusions, coaches in schemes.) They brought lots of gear and thundersticks. It was almost depressing when I first arrived, because I came in with them, and I was the only person in sight wearing Liberty gear who didn't work for the team. But I love traveling fans.

After the game was the Q & A with Laurel Richie, and that was written up in a separate file, so it might not flow smoothly. Sorry. You just have to imagine me hunched over my laptop, steam still coming out of my ears at the defensive lapses, orange threads from the lei I wore on Saturday drifting down my black jersey.

The question and answer session started with opening remarks from Kristen Bernart, who made some noises about the arena and lauded Laurel Richie. I was very good and didn't heckle her about the “not such a great night” thing, since the section of Atlanta fans was still lurking.

Then Richie took the microphone, opening with her background. So far she sounds a little more genuine and less “pull my string and hear me talk” than Orender did. She grew up a Cavs fan (the poor woman) and had some familiar experiences about being a girl trying to get to the game- she and her sisters wondered why dad kept taking their brother to games and not them. She went into her advertising background- “I know about every natural function below the waist.” (Yay? Then I guess she knows what this game was.) I think at this point we're allowed to make cookie jokes, given that she talked up her experience with the Girl Scout cookie program. So far, if she's as good as she seems, we have a lot to thank Force 10 for- they got her into this league. “You're really cool. Let's stay in touch.”

The first thing she wants to do is “celebrate the women who play this game”. I wonder who the third lawyer is (Washington and Henning come to mind). “If nothing else, I want all their arms.” She thinks that getting to know the players is a critical piece to getting people to come to the games. “Do I market the WNBA as something that is socially good?” She appears to have forgotten the existence of WPS, which I can't necessarily blame her for, but the WNBA is not the only professional women's league in this country. “Gosh- God forbid, if they miss one of these passes, there goes my face-” on sitting courtside in Seattle, and seeing how hard and physical the game is. She wants to balance the social good with the basketball of the league. She also wants to play up the partnership with the NBA, “but sometimes I feel we're the little sister”. I see what she's getting at- I think she's obliquely touching upon the Neanderthal argument that the WNBA is being shoved down their throats.

“I am not above shaming potential sponsors into supporting us.” Ahahaha.

I like that she's willing to admit when she doesn't know things. Whether that comes from not having a sports background or simply being new to this job, I don't know, but I like that she hasn't formed her plan yet. She's only in her second month, after all.

The press asks her what's the most surprisng, and she said that she was interviewed so thoroughly that nothing surprises her, but she's impressed with the fans' passion and relationship with the league. And another “I don't know” about bringing more people in, but she wants to put it on the fans. Oh boy. Red flag. She draws a parallel between the Storm's kid train and the relationship of fans to the league.

First question: “instead of shaming sponsors, how can we shame the media into covering the league?” The league's “had some really good discussions” about telling stories about the players. They're working all the angles- women's stuff, business stuff, black stuff, what have you. It will be person by person, outlet by outlet, vehicle by vehicle. I'm not sure I like her emphasis on stories, especially “missing intestine” stories.

Second question: someone else who's pissed off about the blackout on cable! Really pissed off. Lady, let the president get a word in edgewise. She can only nod and mmm. She'll “lobby very hard”, and is giving the usual talk about ratings.

Third question, from a Liberty original: scheduling, used to have lots of weekend games, not so much now. She's also complaining about the food. Lady, the president doesn't control that. So how do you get the attendance up? (This is going to be an I don't know... and it is. Go me.) “It's on my radar.” What do you think are the benefits we get from the NBA? The league hasn't had the financial success they would like- she thinks it'll get there, or she wouldn't have taken this job. Because the larger league continues to support the league, realizing it's going to take the W time to get its feet under it, that's a benefit. She thinks the larger organization appreciates the importance of the league, and I think she's dead wrong on that- it's more appreciated on the micro level, by NBA players who come to games and support the team. Oh, she does know about WPS. But. Um. Paradox.

Fourth question: another angry Liberty fan being Liberty-centric, but also wants to know about the business aspect. Different fan experiences. Would the league have the leverage to force the Dolans to sell? WTF, woman in front of me. NO. Or Orender would have. Keep up. Richie's playing the inexperience card again. “Focused less on ownership and more on viability”, though the two are interconnected.

Yours truly asked about regionalization. The most important thing is to have twelve strong, viable teams. She doesn't believe the composition of teams is based on where players came from. (Jessica Moore might want a word with you.) Owners, staff, etc. are focused on the viability and health of their team. And that was a remarkable non-answer.

Another original: “it's always been a family league”. (Yeah, dude. “Family.” And family.) Yes! Someone else who wants more of a focus on the history of the league!And more inclusivity! Okay, dude, you can live. Bernert took on the history question. Sue has a relationship with the team now. And the Sparks game will have a Spoon celebration. And they're going to celebrate Hammon. (Uh. She's not retired yet.) There's going to be a WATN? section now. Niiiiice. And they want to teach new fans the traditions. YES.

Another question, from a comedian (“how's your brother Lionel?”). How about an oldtimers' game? Bernert says we're trying. Our comedian also brought up commercial travel. For Richie, it's not just the travel, it's the whole piece of it (hey, I'm quoting here, blame her). She looks to women's tennis for inspiration- oh, boy, red flag. “The game is different, but it is no less valuable.”

Last question: the officiating. One of the pieces of her orientation was to meet with the folks in charge of officiating. There's a human factor to all of that. And the guy who trains the officials sounds kind of scary. And more waffling.

I think I like her as a person, but I'm not sure about her as a league president. Her inexperience is raising too many red flags for me. She might be a marketing person, but she sounds like she's not sure what she's marketing.

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June 12th, 2011: Tulsa at Connecticut

Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Connecticut Sun put four players in double figures and kept the Tulsa Shock at arm's length most of the afternoon, winning 90-79. Tulsa's Ivory Latta led all scorers with 26 points. Tina Charles led the Sun with 19 points and eight rebounds.

For danger to life and limb, a distressing lack of cookies, trading cards, and yak herding, join your intrepid and indignant blogger after the jump.

Damn nice crowd for a mid-afternoon game against Tulsa. See, Libs, this is why afternoon weekend games work, not plopping people down at Penn Station at ten at night.

I think it's a bad sign that we've got Sue Blauch tonight. We're already prepared for fail.

Shoutout to Mohegan's free Wi-Fi. Hint, MSG; hint, Prudential Center. I like getting started before the game.

Please, for the love of all that is sweet and holy, please don't let Girl Scouts sing the anthem in registers they don't have. Please. My eardrums despair.

At halftime, something very scary has happened. It looks like Swoopes and Latta have figured out how to use Cambage. The rest of their team might not be familiar with the concept of the entry pass to the post, but if their backcourt players are... they might be on to something. Also, Connecticut appears to have taken up with Three-Point Shot, and we all know how fickle she is. Kelsey Griffin really needs to stop shooting and Danielle McCray needs to start.

I'm surrounded by Girl Scouts. They have no cookies. WASTE.

There were never any cookies. I am not amused. What's the point of having Girl Scouts at an event if you don't have them selling cookies? Honestly, it's not going to take that much away from your concessions, and you'll rack up goodwill with the new league president.

So, the Tulsa bench. The Tulsa bench was actually a bit less organized than usual today, because Nolan Richardson randomly decided to insert Chastity Reed in place of Tiffany Jackson in the starting lineup right at the tip, when Jackson had already been announced. Tiffany Jackson, I still have some lingering fondness for you from your Liberty days, but please do not hit your teammates in the face. This is a bad plan and you should feel bad for following it. Also, watch your footwork. Andrea Riley is a nice kid, but if she ever belonged in the WNBA, she doesn't now. No judgment, no sense, lousy on-floor attitude, and she's still carrying the baby weight (you can tell around her face). She's going to have to have an epiphany soon if she wants to play in the W. And there was a brief Jennifer Lacy sighting.

Chastity Reed reminds me weirdly of Shay Doron around the face. I don't get it. I think she's trying to learn how to play defense, but as this is a new and novel experience for her, she's having a bit of trouble adjusting. I think the only shot she'll have of having time to learn is the fact that she's on rookie scale and can shoot a little. She's barely a possible W player and she sure shouldn't be playing 34 minutes. Unfortunately, Sheryl Swoopes has reached the point where she's barely a W player as well. The instincts are still there, and so is the gorgeous shot when she has time for it. But the flesh is far too weak. It's rough to see a legend play out the string. I was impressed with Kayla Pedersen's hustle and stroke. Assuming Nolan Richardson doesn't make her want to take up yak herding or living in trees, she will be a crucial piece for the future of this team. Liz Cambage definitely looks like she's still nineteen and getting into the groove of the league. Her temper gets the best of her a bit, and she's not always in the right place at the right time, but in the second quarter and until she left the game, she established herself well in the paint and was getting her shots. But she needs to get on the boards. She's six-eight. She needs to do better than two rebounds. Hold onto the ball, Liz!

Kelsey Griffin, stop shooting. I mean, we'll see how things go next game, but if you're even thinking about shooting right now, stop. Her rebounding was on point, and she worked hard on defense, so that was nice. Tan White seemed to have become the shooter of choice at the end of the shot clock, and I do not know if that's the role she was born to play. Danielle McCray looked good- like a player who had been lightly seasoned in overseas basketball but was still new to the WNBA. The numbers do not do justice to DeMya Walker's presence. She bodied up on Cambage and made her uncomfortable.

Tina Charles started off on fire, and then she backed off. I don't get it. She's seen tall. She's seen big. She's seen skilled. She started acting like she was afraid of Cambage, like something was going to come flying out of Cambage's hair or out of her shorts. Go towards the hole, Tina, it's okay. Asjha Jones was hot early, faded a bit, then got hot later in the game, after Cambage was out. I'd like to have seen her be a wee bit more assertive on the boards. Renee Montgomery, you do know you don't have to take everything from beyond the arc? It got ridiculous. Kara Lawson found her stroke late in the game, and was pretty solid throughout. Kalana Greene had a couple of boneheaded moments, but had one stretch in the second half where she made several good plays in a row on both ends of the floor. I still don't think she should be starting for a team that has any pretensions of glory, but it is what it is.

There were some strange lineups out there. At one point, Richardson had Riley and Latta out there together, and Thibault answered that with a three-guard set. I'm not sure this was the right time and place for small ball.

I spent a fair portion of the fourth quarter with elevated blood pressure and seething fury coursing through my veins. Here's the sequence: Tulsa has the ball. On the rebound, Liz Cambage crumples to the floor, first curling into the “oh God my knee” position, then rolling over to show our side of the arena that she's holding her face. Meanwhile, the Sun have the ball at their end. Asjha Jones misses a jump shot at the Sun's end of the floor and everyone comes back up towards the Shock's end of the floor. Play is still going on. Cambage is still writhing. Someone damn near tramples her. Play is still going on. Finally, Tan White is called for a blocking foul and play stops. Finally, someone comes over and tries to get her up. The first attempt does not succeed as her legs fold under her and she sits down heavily. The Shock trainer makes his way over. They work on getting her upright. Teresa Edwards comes over. She works her way upright. Nolan Richardson ambles over when she's almost completely up. She never leaves the bench area, even while they're checking her for concussion (which, by the way, she has). Richardson acts surprised that he needs to get a sub into the game. Your center has a concussion, you idiot, YOU NEED A SUB. He also seemed surprised that he needed to get a sub when Chastity Reed fouled out. I swear, that man has lost his marbles. There are no marbles left.

But I'm more furious at the refs. I understand letting play continue at the other end of the floor. But it's a hazard to everyone involved if you're letting play continue when a player is lying on the floor. Especially if, judging from how quickly they mopped up and the tissue up her nose, there was blood on the floor. Let's rewind and review. There is a very good chance that Sue Blauch, Felicia Grinter, and Byron Jarrett allowed play to go on with blood on the floor. Let's forget any other calls they may or may not have made that day; if this is the case, they are so far up the creek without a paddle that they will not be able to find the paddle without the help of a native guide. I mean, I know there were a couple of calls that had me raising my eyebrows, but that sequence took the cake. That's a reckless disregard for players' health and safety right there.

After the game, we headed up to the usual spot to work on this year's t-shirt, but after half an hour of trying to find Tulsa players, some Sun fan decided to give me flak about my team, so I snarled a couple of curse words in her general direction and stomped off in high dudgeon, thinking unkind thoughts about UConn fans who don't have anything better to do than scream for Jessica Moore. For the most part, I like Connecticut fans and I like Sun fans, but the UConn fans who are there solely for UConn alumnae can be ridiculously obnoxious. (And trust me, I'm a New Yorker. I know from obnoxious.)

Tulsa has more promise than I thought. But Nolan Richardson has to go for any of it to be realized.

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June 12th, 2011: Indiana at New York

Just the Facts, Ma'am: A 24-10 fourth quarter allowed the Indiana Fever to overcome the New York Liberty, 86-80. Essence Carson led all scorers with 23 points, while Tamika Catchings led Indiana with 19. Rookie Jeanette Pohlen had 14 off the bench for the Fever.

For face painting, far too much standing around, tropes being describes, shrieks of rage, and sheepish confessions, join your intrepid and hurried blogger after the jump.

Different city. Different arena. Surprisingly different team. Same old FFO, though I think much of this may have to do with lack of communication between the FFO and the fans, and the FFO and the Prudential Center. Something tells me this will be a recurring theme for games that have pre-game events.

It did not help the FFO's standing with many season ticket holders that they canceled the Fan Fest the morning of, due to rain. Some of us were already en route, because some of had errands to run and lunch/dinner to eat before hiking two hours out to Newark, and thus some of us were a bit annoyed at an additional hour of standing around and shooting off our mouths.

The season subscriber Q and A turned out to be more of a tour, which was a bit annoying because I've been to the Prudential Center before, thank you, I know where the bathroom is. They gave us some useful information about the perks of being a season ticket holder, though, and once they got organized, it was great. But they had to get organized first, and I think that was more on the Prudential Center people than that was on the Liberty staff.

We hit up the tag sale afterwards, scoring some very cool autographed stuff for him and a poster for me. I almost bought my mom one of the balls signed by Ashley Battle, but I've already bought her a jersey and given her a card, so maybe I need a new theme. Maybe when we play San Antonio...

I have talked a lot of trash about Sidney Spencer in the past. I will probably talk a lot of trash about Sidney Spencer in the future. But I'll give her her due as a shooter: if you can hit shots- even if they're practice shots- in the dark, or with disco lights flashing in your face, you're a baller for real.

You can't really call it a “guest DJ” series if you only ever have one or two people there, y'know.

Amy Bonner almost tripped Shannon Bobbitt as the Fever ran onto the floor. Nice job breaking it, officials.

And after the game, my happy, excited mood of “oh, how good it is to be home, how nice it is to see all of the Usual Suspects, and Essence Carson finally figured out where the three-point arc is!” has dissipated in a haze of “GODDAMNIT PLENETTE GODDAMNIT KIA WHAT IS WITH YOUR SHOT SELECTION?” and seething frustration at Whiz's sub patterns.

Unrelated to actual gameplay, we saw a few luminaries there. Kym Hampton and Sue Wicks were in their usual seats on the endline, and I think I may have temporarily died of squee at the sight of Sue in facepaint. We were about four rows back from April Sykes of Rutgers (and possibly other Rutgers players, but sadly, Sykes is the only player on that team I recognize anymore). There were two tall, striking women in front of us, and I kept thinking that they looked familiar. They disappeared at halftime, and the next time I saw them, they were sitting with Chelsea Newton, so I think they may have been Rutgers alumnae.

I can't tell you much about the halftime show, except that it involved entirely too much Justin Bieber, because we spent it showing off wedding pictures to our neighbors. Really, though, I think the fact that it included Justin Bieber should be enough for you not to want to know more.

Jeanette Pohlen might be the best point guard on Indiana's roster right now, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Things seemed to go more smoothly when she was in. Of course, it didn't help that we weren't guarding her, because apparently no one on our team watched college basketball last season! Jessica Davenport is still too fond of using the glass, but I like that she's using her size more. Of course, I recognize my own bias, because I like her and want her to do well despite her alma mater. She was very effective as a reserve for Indiana. Erin Phillips is still a little crazy. I was surprised she wasn't looking for her offense, but I guess that's not what she's in for. She sacrificed her body a couple of times. Dunn didn't go into her bench that much- a bit of a surprise in the back end of a back-to-back.

Would someone please keep Katie Douglas from going left or going behind the screen and getting open behind the arc? Please? Somebody? Anybody? Just so she'll shut up and stop whining to the refs, and so she'll stop scoring on my team? Briann January is developing into a nice little shooting guard. This is a bit of a problem when you're supposed to be a shooting guard, though. Her passing savvy is not where I imagine a coach with any pretensions of glory would want it to be. Tammy Sutton-Brown is possibly the least popular Rutgers player ever, which actually takes a fair amount of effort with these fans. She did some nice work on the offensive boards, though. I'm impressed with Tangela Smith's grace regarding her number; given that she has seniority over everyone in this league short of Swoopes, Thompson, and Penicheiro, she could have asked for 50 back from Davenport and gotten it, but she changed her number instead. I honestly don't remember much of what she did out there. Some screens, some questionable shots. She looked like a player who was in her fourteenth season.

Jessica Breland, go to the damn basket unless you tell me to my face that Whiz is telling you to shoot from the outside. Because I'm sorry, right now you're one of the biggest people we have and your outside shot is comparable to mine. Maybe it was a bad night, but she didn't impress me. Alex Montgomery lived up to her number in her one stint, stopping Douglas when no one else had managed to... and then she was buried on the bench, never to be seen again, not even when Douglas warmed back up, Catchings remembered she could occasionally shoot, and Pohlen and January were getting in on the offense. I don't understand why a defensive coach who needed a defensive stop wouldn't put in a defensive stopper. Quanitra Hollingsworth looked like someone who still needed to get used to who her teammates were- the raw material is there, but she hasn't yet developed, and she needs to do so in a hurry before she comes off rookie scale and disappears off the face of the earth. Once she stops fighting her teammates for rebounds and does a better job gauging her shots, she'll be fine. Leilani Mitchell played in spurts, but I don't think she's Whiz's style of point guard. She looked like she was having a little trouble with the Indiana defense, but not as much as I think Whiz thought she was having. Her back may be flaring up again, though; we saw her with the radiator at one point. Sidney Spencer was not completely awful, but didn't do much. Watching her on defense is painful, but I have to give her points for at least trying. It's sort of endearing.

Pretend to care, Nicole Powell? Please? At least have the appearance of concern added to your emotional subroutine? I shouldn't be gauging players by their expressions, but when the only expression she demonstrates is that of someone who's bitten into a lemon and discovered that it's not only tart but moldy, I worry. She had something like six assists tonight, so I guess she was doing something right on that end of the floor, but it just didn't look like it. I get the feeling this is going to be a long bout of love-hate with a heavy dose of WHY DIDN'T WE TAKE REBEKKAH BRUNSON WHYYYYYYY. Essence Carson was apparently replaced by her polar opposite, who can shoot the lights out and knows where the three-point arc is, but lets Briann January run by her for a lay-up and has repeated defensive breakdowns. I don't mind the scoring, but honestly, E, you were hired as a defender. The first of Plenette Pierson's skyhooks went in and was awesome, but somehow that gave her carte blanche to take two more in the fourth quarter instead of going for a higher-percentage shot. She bodied up well, and played great in the first half, but I think the minutes and the back-to-back got to her in the second half. I'm really not sure what to think about Kia Vaughn anymore. One minute she tears down a rebound or sets a nice screen. The next minute, she's trying to do Tari Phillips's show-the-ball trick without having full possession of the ball. (And given that the “show-the-ball trick involves holding the ball out with both hands and daring the defense to take it, this is not a good thing.) All the flaws that there were in her game as a senior at Rutgers are still there in her third professional season. She blows lay-ups, then thinks that she should take jumpers instead. She commits stupid fouls more than she commits smart ones or gets victimized by the refs. Her fundamentals are a hot mess. And I feel like I'm harping on her too much, but this is going to be a recurring theme, I know it.

Since the above paragraph is entirely too long, Cappie Pondexter gets her own paragraph, despite the fact that she wasn't really the Pondexter we've come to expect. Whiz is playing her at the point, and I'll give her credit, she's accepted the role more fully than I ever could have expected, almost to the detriment of the team. She's distributing and rarely calling her own number- and in crunch time, she's shying away from her number, which is leaving us with Plenette and the skyhook. She can't be the point guard in the fourth quarter when it's a close game. Leilani or Essence or hell, Sydney Colson needs to be distributing the ball. I might not like Pondexter, but given our other options, she needs to be taking the big shots for this team. We can't have her passing off when she can take damn near anyone in this league to the hole. And the fact that I have to type this hurts.

Dear officials: if Katie Douglas is in the backcourt and the shot clock says 16, that is an eight-second violation and you should give us the ball. If Katie Douglas is flying out of bounds into the backcourt, that is either out of bounds off Indiana or an backcourt violation and you should give us the ball, not her a timeout. If Katie Douglas lowers her shoulder and bulldozes Plenette Pierson, that is an offensive foul and you should give us the ball. I mean, I'm not exactly asking for fine judgment calls here, just arithmetic and spatial awareness. I'm not blaming the refs for us losing this game, because we did that all by ourselves, but it doesn't help when you're concerning yourselves with reviewing twos and threes and failing math. (Also, maybe I missed a reallocation, but they may have shorted Tamika Catchings a foul.)

If the crowd is going to arrive this late every game, we are going to have to have a long talk. Several stretches of the game were interrupted by people coming in to take their seats; I swear about a third of the crowd thought it was a 7:30 tip. And then people were leaving early to catch trains. It was a pretty small crowd. I think the people in the upper deck were irked at the vast swaths of empty seats in the center court sections of the lower deck. I'd peg attendance at about six thousand actual physical sentient beings, but they were a loud six thousand. If this team manages not to screw everything up, and they can get the place full, it's going to rock. But that's a pretty big if at this point.

This is probably going to be my last season until the team comes back to New York, so I want it to be the best that it can be. And right now, I'm not sure how good it can be. (I mean, okay, I said last season was my last too, but they fired Blaze, I had to give them another chance.) But the giant flaws in this team showed tonight, and when one of those flaws is the coach, it's hard to tell how many of them are going to be fixed by the end of the year. But we've got a game in three days, so we'll see how things go then.

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