Just the Facts, Ma'am: Hofstra induced 21 turnovers and clamped down on exterior defense to come away with a 77-64 win at home over Fordham. Anma Onyeuku led the Pride with 23 points, while Andreana Thomas added 21, 19 of those in the second half. Erin Rooney led the Rams with 23 points.
For juggling, slaps on the wrist, mockery, and distraction, join your intrepid and sleepy blogger after the jump.
I needed a day off. Of course, I spend it heading out to a basketball game. At least I got the sleep I'm going to need for this weekend. I'm currently on a crowded N6 bus headed to Hempstead, there to make a transfer to the bus that will take me to Hofstra University for their game against Fordham, on what your intrepid blogger and your dashing reporter have dubbed "transfers will be persecuted" day, though that's overstating the case a little bit. We're only going to root hard against them...
What can I say? Loyalty matters to us, and when you turn your back on that, we remember. It's not the act of leaving that's disloyal, it's the baggage that comes attached to it.
Not sure if playing "Only the Good Die Young" tonight is a veiled shot at the Jesuit institution that is Fordham, or just a nod to Billy Joel's Long Island roots, but whatever the reason, I'm enjoying it. I love me some Billy Joel.
Not to say that I got here early or anything, but I think I just beat the cheerleaders in.
I forgot just how much I liked Hofstra's arena. I think I say that every time I come here, but it's a beautiful midsize arena, the seats are gently cushioned, it's bright, and it's well-kept.
There are a lot of Fordham people here tonight, to the point where I'm not 100% sure which bench is which. There are people in maroon behind both benches. I really hope Hofstra was ble to get some Girl Scout troops or something up in here, because otherwise it's going to be kind of depressingly pro-Fordham up in here, and I refuse to lead the cheers for a team I barely tolerate against a team I flat out am not talking to this year. Seriously, Hofstra is like seventh on my list.
Oh Hofstra those stripes on the sleeves no. You gave up the striped logo, like, ten years ago, why are you resurrecting it now? Though it works on the soccer shirts the student section is wearing.
I also forgot that Hofstra has an active and involved student section, even if it's small. Oh, Hofstra, why do you have to be three buses away from me? I would adopt you and hug you and squeeze you in a second if it didn't take two hours to get here.
Anthem singer, I can't even with you. That was all kinds of a hot mess.
34-26 Hofstra at half, but Fordham had a quick 5-0 spurt in the last minute that worries me. Hofstra has good hands on defense, not so much on offense. A lot of fumbles, a lot of hesitant gathers, rebounds that should be caught instead of being fumbled. But they're kicking the daylights out of Fordham's ball movement, and they've been face-guarding Corning and Missry, Fordham's two dead-eye shooters. Hofstra's gone very deep into their bench in the first half- I think only one player hasn't played. Anma Onyeuku leads the Pride with 13; Erin Rooney leads the way for the Rams with 9.
It was nice for Hofstra to get that win, but I wonder if it might help paper over some of the underlying issues with this team.
Of course the first thing Mary Nwachukwu did was hit a lay-up in the paint, which she was only avoiding for something like three years at St. John's, but then she proceeded to not rebound, not hang on to the ball, and generally be the player I remember swearing at at St. John's. In the second half, Danielle Burns got the bulk of the bench minutes in the post, and she was serviceable. She needs to show a little more judgment with her shot, but she plays well inside for a player who's listed as a guard/forward. Khadijah Gibson came in right at the end of the game, as if Gaitley were admitting that the game was over. Danielle Padovano gave decent minutes, though unmemorable ones.
Hannah Missry missed the memo about points of emphasis. Granted, she's a freshman, and they make stupid mistakes, that's part of being a freshman. But she genuinely did not seem to get what she was doing wrong, even when the contact was obvious. I think she was frustrated at her inability to get her shot off against Hofstra's vicious defense. Samantha Clark is a load in the middle, and I really think they should be running more through her, both because she can finish in the middle and because that will then open up space for Missry and Corning to get loose for threes. Abigail Corning rebounded well enough, but she couldn't get her shot off. Emily Tapio didn't play a lot- bad fouls, bad passing, generally nto having her head together. Erin Rooney drove through the Hofstra defense like they were stationary cones, and used her body well to get contact. I'd like to see a little less diving from her, though. It got annoying after a while.
Dianna Thomas-Palmer (who goes by Dee on the roster, but the announcer uses Dianna) seems to have been inspired by Shante Evans in all the wrong ways. She's a big girl, and not necessarily in the best ways. She rebounded better in the second half, though. Kelly Loftus seemed to be the only player on the floor at the end of the game who had any sense of what to do with the clock. Krystal Luciano might be the only person for Hofstra who is tinier than Andreana Thomas. She gave them decent minutes at point near the end of the game. Anma Onyeuku started the second half, but not the first, and I think she's expanded her game since the last time I saw her. She seemed equally comfortable inside or outside, playing in transition or playing in the halfcourt game. I was very impressed with her. Asia Jackson showed good touch in the second half, but questionable judgment. Elo Edefenoka showed a lot of potential down low- still needs to work on her hands and her shooting, but she's going to be good for them.
Andreana Thomas is the engine that makes this team go. When she's not in, they look very lost. When she's in, she's like a lightning bolt, both in terms of energizing her team and in terms of her first step speed. Sydni Epps got the first half start, and I sort of understood why she didn't get the second half start after the two quick fouls she picked up in the second half- questionable judgment, not the most useful shot in the world. I can't even think of anything that Alexis Carter did. Annie Payton was called upon for outside shooting and senior leadership. I'm not sure she was the right person to go to on the senior leadership. Ruth Sherrill showed a little bit of potential, but overall looked like a freshman. She'll be serviceable for them, one of these days.
That is, if Hofstra can figure out how to get out of their own way. They have talent, but they have no sense and no discipline. Their passing is bad. And after that hot mess last weekend, I know from bad passing. They all seem afraid to shoot. They have no clock awareness, either of the shot clock or of the game situation. Kilburn-Stevesky was all but begging them to slow the game down in the last three minutes, and no one of them seemed to be listening. She had to put in the backup point guard just to get them to slow down. You do not need to chuck corner threes when you're up fifteen with three minutes to go, or throw up off-balance shots on offensive rebounds with twenty seconds on the shot clock.
I've also come to the conclusion that Kilburn-Stevesky coaches the way I would coach, and that's not necessarily a good thing. She's constantly yelling, and usually in frustration. I don't know if she knows her team. "Annie, get your team together!" she yelled at Annie Payton, but from what I saw, that didn't look like Annie Payton's team, it looked like Andreana Thomas's team. Leadership doesn't necessarily come from seniors, it comes from leaders.
I think the men's team was in the house. Tall guys sprawled over a section of seats in athletic gear tends to mean that. In which case, Pride dude playing imaginary drums to "Beat It", go on with your bad self.
Hofstra's cheerleaders are not the traditional pretty skinny girls, but their routines rely much more heavily on lifts, so I'm not surprised. Lots of good stuff in there.
I really hate the new points of emphasis. The games grind and there's no flow. And if you're going to call every little brush of contact, can you at least call it when a player takes four steps on her way to a lay-up, or call Erin Rooney for undercutting a player? I really need someone at some point to adjust to this, or I'm going to want to be blind.
The N6 is really an experiment in social engineering, isn't it? Don't lie to me, Veolia.
I ultimately think that Fordham will come out of this game with more useful information, unless Hofstra manages to learn from their mistakes in this one... but I don't know if this team and this coach can learn from a win.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
November 15th, 2013: Fordham at Hofstra
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
November 12th, 2013: Iona at St. John's
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Aliyyah Handford had a career-high 32 points to go with 10 rebounds, and St. John's cruised to a 78-48 win over Iona. Briana Brown added 13 for the Red Storm. Joy Adams led the Gaels with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
For fizzling, amazing things, tiny guards, homophones, and entirely too many Aaliyahs, join your intrepid and weary blogger after the jump.
Finally! I get to cover my team!
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll roll with Iona (when they're not playing us); I love their potential and their talent, and Damika's family would kick my butt otherwise. I'll roll with Seton Hall (when they're not playing us); Tony Bozzella's a good guy and the Pirates need a renewal. I'll roll with Michigan (when they're not playing us); Kim and Joy still remember us, and loyalty deserves loyalty. I'll roll with my New York teams (when they're not playing us) (and not Fordham this year); I'm a New Yorker, I love basketball, and I love seeing good basketball in my city. I'll roll with whoever at the drop of a hat... but in the cold, cold winter, I live and die with my Johnnies, the red and white of SJU.
So here I am on the Q46, the Union Turnpike bus, as it wheezes and whistles up Union, getting ready for the home opener against Iona. It's going to be tough. It's going to be heart-wrenching (I do like those Iona kids). It's going to be exciting. It'll be good to be home. Tickets are at will call, so we'll see how long the warm and fuzzies last.
Well, the ticket office managed to put our tickets in the wrong section of the ticket office, so that was a fun detangling, and one of these days they're going to annoy me enough to make me a Seton Hall booster. Of course, while we were at the will call window, we ran into Damika Martinez's family, along with an Iona fan who got excited when she recognized us and was heartbroken when she noticed our St. John's gear.
Excellent, powerful anthem.
The walk-ons are really tiny. Keylantra almost literally had them under her wing before the game. Aaliyah Lewis is also really tiny, but she's got immense vertical. At halftime it's 41-26 St. John's, mostly behind 14 points from Aliyyah Handford. It was tough sledding in the early going, but after Iona got out to something like an 11-4 lead, the Storm got the offense together. Rebounding is still an issue, which is to be expected somewhat when you have no height, but we need to get after the loose balls.
Dude with the iTunes, your mix is lousy, with horrible dynamics and questionable mixing. No. Just no. Can we just listen to the band instead? Turn off the Chipmunks setting next time, and don't try to play your music while the band is making music.
What happened to you, Iona? Not that I mind as a St. John's fan, but I mind as a fan who follows your team when they're not playing St. John's.
Christina Rubin couldn't find the basket with a map and compass. Her shot was all over the place, but mostly hard off the backboard. She might have been better off trying to use her height in the paint against the utter lack of height that St. John's ran out there. Spencer Gray started the second half in place of Damika Martinez, to better protect Martinez from getting in further foul trouble, and looked very freshman-y. Aurellia Cammock wasn't bad in the middle, and showed that she might be the post that Iona is going to so desperately need when Sabrina Jeridore graduates. Cassidee Ranger is back to taking her threes from the corner instead of trying to defend the post, and we got lucky that she wasn't hitting her shots. Aaliyah Robinson was unremarkable, though I think she helped stabilize her team a little bit.
The good news for Iona is that Joy Adams wasn't bringing the ball up like she did against Bowling Green, because that is a bad plan at this point in her career. The bad news for Iona is that, for reasons completely beyond my ken, Joy Adams took five threes on the night, hitting only one. That's not her game, as it stands right now, and she's not good enough at her strengths yet to start trying to add new dimensions to her game. Get her back into the lane and get her slashing to the basket or posting up down low, and make sure she's got that element of her game established before you start trying to get her to do something she's not entirely suited to yet. Aleesha Powell looked to have more strength and confidence in her jump shot- she had a very pretty floater in the lane as well. Damika Martinez was trying to do too much by herself, which is a habit she's got to break. She's by far the best scorer on her team, but that doesn't mean she has to go 1-on-2 or 1-on-3 on a bad break. Sabrina Jeridore had a great defensive game, blocking shots, getting boards, and boxing out, but she could not get a shot to drop. She had good looks on the inside, but she couldn't hit them for love nor money. Haley D'Angelo was decent on the open looks that she got, but the ball didn't seem to be in her hands enough as the point guard and floor general to try and get the team's head back together.
We got to see one of the walk-ons! Cynthia Barboa got a couple of minutes at the end of the game and showed a little bit of fire when she went for the strip on Jeridore. Our hearts broke when that free throw bounced all around the rim and out. Mallory Jones kept trying to bomb threes from Tina Thompson land, which was not a good plan for her. Her rebounding instincts were decent, though the execution could use some work. There's also a lot of... um... bouncing going on with her. I might have to give her the card to my corsetorium. Keylantra Langley was a surprise coming off the bench, in terms of who was benched and who was starting, though I think her back was bothering her- I think she was the one getting treatment on the bench for back issues. Sandra Udobi gave good minutes down low, but she needs to hit a few more of her chippies. I'm glad the brace is shrinking.
Aaliyah Lewis is very small. I've dubbed her Tiny Aaliyah for conversational use; while Aaliyah and Aliyyah are visually different names, they're homophonic. She has incredible vertical, though, and her vision was good tonight. And she's so adorable! Ashley Perez brought her shot, along with some drives in the lane and good defense. Briana Brown was her solid senior self, getting to the basket and hitting big threes. Amber Thompson's shot could be better- she's got to make the little ones inside- but she was really good, and played a solid defensive game. And then there was Aliyyah Handford, who showed all her moves tonight. I've never run out of room on a scorecard before. Not with the great Huskies that came through with UConn. Not when Delle Donne came to town. Not with Sugar Rodgers on the other side. But Aliyyah was on fire, slashing to the hoop and getting her buckets like it was her divine mission. It got to the point where she was using the shot pass to try to get the ball to her teammates (Amber, Ashley, you gotta hit those shots).
Officiating was nothing to write home about. Neither team was particularly fond of the zero-tolerance on hand-checks.
There's a new dude on the dance team, after a couple of dude-less years. New dude needs pom-poms! He looks so naked without pom-poms!
This was much better than I was expecting from St. John's, and much worse than I was expecting from Iona. I have to wonder if Bowling Green broke them instead of telling them that they could run with the best.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
November 10th, 2013: San Francisco at Columbia
Just the Facts, Ma'am: USF held Columbia without a field goal for four minutes deep in the second half to pull away in an 83-69 win on the road. Rachel Howard led the Dons with 18 points, while Taj Winston added 17. Miwa Tachibana led the Lions with 13 points.
For fouls, missed shots, fouls, reusable paint, fouls, back support, and fouls, join your intrepid blogger after the whistle. I mean jump.
The epic tour of basketball continues at Columbia today, as the Game Notes of Doom hook up with San Francisco once more.
I think they replaced the seats at Levien. The place looks very shiny. Extremely well organized.
We have a band today! Yesssssssssssssss. Here's hoping they do Korobeiniki. However, the DJ's music selection could use some work. You can't be an academic school and play "Started From the Bottom" when a) you are still at the bottom, b) Cal did it way better than you will ever dream of doing it.
San Francisco fans, I appreciate your passion, but those plastic cowbells are technically against NCAA regulations, but then again, the Columbia fanatics brought them as well, so it all comes out in the wash. Yes, there are fans with face paint and painted shirts for Columbia. Mostly older gentlemen, so I'm glad they stuck to the shirts instead of the painted chests.
Beautiful anthem. I wonder if she sings opera as an extracurricular.
At halftime of a game that started as a slopfest, San Francisco is up three on Columbia. Rachel Howard had eight early, with Taj Winston adding six late from the line. Tori Oliver looks pretty tough for the Lions, but it's been Miwa Tachibana who's carried the load for Columbia, with 10.
Columbia has a fairly impressive souvenir stand, but I can't find the concession stand and I'm hungry. :( I'm also amused by the fact that they're blowing out the Adidas gear; the switch to Nike must have been very recent. No tiny souvenirs I could put on Moooose, though.
I was not expecting USF to have the moxie to make a defensive stand like they did in the fourth quarter of that game to hold off Columbia. I'd have to look at the final play-by-play to double-check it, but they went on a fairly substantial run to finish off the game, fueled both by offense and defense.
Aundrea Gordon seems to have shaken off whatever was bothering her shot at Fordham, because she brought the offense today. She was critical to regaining control of the game in the second half. Claudia Price needed to assert herself more- the coaches were yelling at her to shoot most of the time that she was in the game. She did well when she shot, so she needs to build on that. Hashima Carothers looked lost out there- fumbled a pass into her face, couldn't keep control of the ball, and generally seemed content to let the Columbia forwards muscle her out of position. My scorecard says that Alexa Hardick played, but I can't put my finger on anything that she did. Jamie Katuna committed stupid fouls- don't foul a three-point shooter! But she got the three back at the other end, so that worked out. Brief minutes for Bryn Stark, nothing to write home about.
Paige Spietz had a monster block in the first half, but her overreaching hands would be her downfall- she fouled out on a reach-in (more precisely, a reach-over) that any referee worth his salt is going to call as a foul, even if you manage to get all ball. She did all right on the boards, but was content to let loose balls go by her. Taylor Proctor got herself into foul trouble fairly early in both halves, which limited her effectiveness. She was also one of the Dons (Donnas? Doñas?) who had issues with getting easy looks to go down. Zhané Dikes didn't have much luck with the rim in the first half, but changing baskets seemed to change her luck a little bit. She drove without fear and took a couple of hard hits on both ends of the floor- at one point she all but did a somersault. Taj Winston came up big during the run at the end of the game, with a huge three and some critical shots, including a gorgeous breakaway lay-up on a deft steal. Rachel Howard brought the offense again, including a beautiful floater in the lane.
The ball movement was better this time around, but they're entirely too passive when it comes to loose balls. Fordham knocked away rebounds left and right, and so did Columbia. They've got to learn to move without the ball, as well. Can't just stand around and wait for the pass, especially when the passing is extremely sloppy.
Carolyn Gallagher and Ara Talkov both threw me off because they were wearing numbers that were not their number on the website, and then Columbia's announcer announced Gallagher as Carolyn Binder (which got really confusing when she committed a foul and Binder was sitting on four). Talkov looked lost in her minutes. Gallagher was able to provide some decent minutes in the post. Amara Mbionwu was brilliant in her few minutes, banging down low and getting good putbacks. She mostly played in the second half, which makes me wonder if she's recovering from an injury or if Stephanie Glance likes to use her as a secret weapon of sorts. Devon Roeper has an interesting release to her free throws, and still needs to work on her screens. Carolyn Binder gave decent minutes, and I'm not sure if some of those fouls were legit. I really can't remember anything that Kayla Patton did.
Miwa Tachibana is a woman who knows no fear. She's tiny, but she drives full on into the lane like no one's business. Courtney Bradford is a load down low, but her finishing could use a little work. I like the potential of Tori Oliver- there's something about her that reminds me of Le'Coe Willingham, though that might just be her build and her hair. Taylor Ward missed a lot of very makeable shots. It wasn't pretty. Sara Mead was not as memorable these hours later as I think she was during the game. I must remember not to schedule social engagements immediately after games.
I realize that there are new points of emphasis this year in the NCAA, and they're really trying to clamp down on incidental contact, but it got ridiculous in this game, on both sides. One of the guys in the front row called out, "So you've decided that everything that happens on the basketball court is a foul?" There was no real flow to the game- how could there be, with all the stoppages?
Quote of the game, after Miwa Tachibana's fourth or fifth foul, which came down low, from Stephanie Glance: "Are you serious? She's four-foot-two, how could she foul in there?"
Columbia just could not finish at the rim. San Francisco was not pressuring much, and they still couldn't convert on all the chances they got. Glance has a ways to go with her team on the basics, but I think she can get them back up to snuff.
So tomorrow (today?) I get a day off, and then it's back to the basketball!
Saturday, November 9, 2013
November 9th, 2013: Bowling Green at Iona
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Jillian Halfhill's lay-up with eighteen seconds left gave Bowling Green a 51-50 lead, and a last-second scrum for the ball secured the Falcons the win over Iona. Alexis Rogers led Bowling Green with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Damika Martinez of Iona led all scorers with 25 points, while Aaliyah Robinson added 14 off the bench.
For disagreements, bright colors, intensity, pride, point guards, and a possible question of mental fortitude, join your intrepid and blanketed blogger after the jump.
On to the second game of our double-header, which features Iona and Bowling Green for whatever marbles may be relevant in a miniature tournament. Shut up, grammar check, Bowling Green is correctly capitalized.
Bowling Green's uniforms are really orange. I think TV mutes the color a lot.
Iona's been working with their academic font instead of the old athletic font. Doesn't make for a dramatic court, but it looks good on the uniforms.
We're now changed into our maroon and gold. The extra layer was warming in the cold weather.
Oh, hey, cool, the mascot decided to show up. That's a change from last year.
Iona has a very tiny cheerleader with the most impressive thigh muscles I've ever seen (however, if I can see how built your thighs are, your skirt is way too short).
Bowling Green managed to get four balls in the basket. They tried to knock them out from the bottom, but only managed to get out one. It took a bit of doing to get them all out. That's either a good sign or a bad sign. So far it looks like a good sign for BGSU's shooting. It's 30-23 BGSU at the half, and the Falcons have looked stronger as the half has gone on. It also deeply disturbs me that Damika Martinez has gone full ballhog in the second quarter. There's a definite element of Lori Ann to her game tonight, if you follow what I mean.
As one would expect from a MAC team, Bowling Green's fans are out in full force. I really do love the MAC. Not when one of my teams is playing one of their teams, but other than that I love the MAC.
That was an amazing game. It wasn't the prettiest game in the world, but it was intense, and everyone was into it. The only way it could have been better, in my admittedly biased view, would have been if Iona had pulled it off at the very end.
Abby Siefker was a big body in the middle, and threw her weight around very effectively. Jasmine Matthews brought a little bit of offensive touch. Jennifer Roos almost seemed to be looking to see which guards she thought she could trust later in the season. Judging from the minute counts, she was not impressed with what she found, but they gave the starters a break when they needed it, which might have been enough coming down the stretch.
Alexis Rogers looks like a BCS player. She has the height and the build, as well as more quickness than one would expect from a woman of her build. She dissected Iona on the inside, because they had no one who could really match up with her. (And just for the record: yeah, that offensive foul for the moving screen was a bad call. Aleesha ran headlong into her without looking.) Jillian Halfhill ran a fine offense. I love to see a good floor general doing her stuff, even if she didn't show that element of her game statistically. Sometimes a player looks like she's the person in charge when she walks out onto the floor and it's clear her teammates defer to her. Jill Stein was tough in the middle. Miriam Justinger always seemed to be in the middle of the play; I remember that 30 jersey being all up in a lot of plays, especially going after loose balls. Erica Donovan had a solid game, if not one that was particularly memorable.
Very smart play by Bowling Green. We wailed and gnashed our teeth at the lack of free throw attempts that we were given, but the Falcons really didn't commit a lot of contact that would have resulted in free throws. Jennifer Roos is one of the most involved coaches I've ever seen. She yells almost as much as I do, at least when it comes to getting her team's attention. That's not a bad thing, though I wonder if it might wear on a player after a while.
Spencer Gray intrigues me. She reminds me very much of Kia Wright from St. John's, and of the freshmen she looked the least out of her depth. She might be able to move into that point guard slot when Haley D'Angelo graduates, if she learns with some speed. Cassidee Ranger looks like she's bulked up a little bit, and with the lack of height on Iona's roster, she's being called upon as a reserve post. Given that Cassidee's strengths are three-point shooting and on-ball defense, I do not think this is a very good plan. Aurellia Cammock shows a bit of promise with her size, though it's hard to get a fair assessment as to whether she can shoot, since her minutes were all in the first half and therefore no one other than Damika Martinez was touching the ball unless they happened to rebound it. Christina Rubin looked lost, which surprises me, since she was with the team last year. Aaliyah Robinson fired up the big threes. She's instant offense. (Reminds me of another Robinson in that regard.) And Iona needed everything she had to offer.
I don’t know what's wrong with Aleesha Powell, but I've met her and she seems like a nice kid, so I really hope that she's able to shake it off. But her shot was all messed up. It's like her arm strength completely evaporated over the offseason. She's always been slightly built (think Leilani Mitchell, but at 110% scale), but she looks even thinner now. Joy Adams was strangely passive today, and she didn't get down low nearly as much as I've come to expect from her. She was bringing the ball up more, too. I don't know if she's trying to diversify her game to be more of an overseas prospect, or if Coach Godsey is trying to switch her to the three because of her build, but in either case, it's not a good idea. Sabrina Jeridore was fierce on defense and hit the boards hard- I think she had four rebounds before the first media timeout. She's got to finish at the rim, and she's got to improve her stamina- she got winded a lot, and it's always apparent on her face when she's utterly gassed. Unless someone unexpected steps up to take some of the load off in the paint, she's all they have down there, and she needs to accept that responsibility as a senior and as the tallest healthy player on the roster. Haley D'Angelo has never been a shooter, and the one shot she took in this game reminded us of why she generally doesn't shoot a lot, but she needs to be a little more aggressive and force players to guard her. She's still the unquestioned leader of her team and the floor general for the Gaels, but she needs to be more of a threat. Damika Martinez was the offensive star for Iona, but she did it by volume, and the misses were bad misses. She got into a bit of a heated discussion with the coach in the middle of the first half, and her answer to whatever it was was to completely dominate the ball for the rest of the half. She brought it up, she dribbled, she shot. Not a good look. She got over it in the second half, though, and her shooting at the end of the game got Iona right back in it.
The officials in this game were not so good with the out of bounds calls. I'm really not sure how you can miss a player who's six-three and bright orange, guys.
For a mostly empty arena, the ambiance was fantastic. By the end, both groups of fans were really into the game. Iona's entire bench spent the last two defensive possessions standing and chanting. It was a heartbreaker (especially since Iona apparently tried to call timeout during the last rebound and didn't have it granted) but it was the kind of heartbreaker they would have lost heart during the second half of last year.
November 9th, 2013: Michigan at Arizona (at Iona)
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Arizona came on strong, but Cyesha Goree came up with the equalizer at the buzzer and the Michigan Wolverines came away with the win against the Wildcats in overtime, 73-71. Shannon Smith had 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for Michigan, while Nicole Elmblad posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Candice Warthen led Arizona with 21 points and nine assists.
For reuniting, layers, an autumn chill, directions, stomping, rainbows, and the victors valiant, join your intrepid and color-confused blogger after the jump, because that yellow IS NOT MAIZE.
Good afternoon! This time we're coming to you from the Hynes Athletic Center for the finale of Iona's tip-off tournament. Our first game features the Michigan Wolverines and the Arizona Wildcats.
It's good to have friends. Thanks for the assist, Joy.
Iona switched up which side of the court had the benches- the chairbacks are now across from the benches, which is mildly inconvenient. One of these years I'll remember to bring a seat cushion to bleacher seating. But they've done the place up a bit; the paint job is so fresh that I can still smell it, and it still has the new paint gleam.
Arizona seems to be focusing on finer control- footwork, low dribbling, ball control. Michigan's drill is pretty standard.
We're not the only ones here who came via the St. John's connection. There's folks in red who aren't with Arizona.
The Arizona crowd took time to get involved, but they did. I think they felt they were challenged. Well, bring it. I ain't shutting up any time soon.
Halftime, it's 32-26 Michigan, and so far Arizona's defense has kept them in the game. They've pressured out-of-bounds plays very well, inducing a five-second call early in the game. Michigan's offense was solid early, but it seems to have broken down more as the half progressed. Arizona shut down a lot of the ball movement, but on the other end of the floor, they have serious issues with their shooting.
So far no really awkward moments. I expect them, though. I have an Iona shirt under a Michigan shirt under a St. John's scarf, someone's going to question my loyalties to someone eventually.
I'd be more involved in the game on the offensive end if I knew the Michigan chants. The folks around us don't seem to be inclined to that kind of noise, though, so I'm still kind of lost. Ah, well, more voice for the Iona game. Though not as much as I was expecting... that game got a little too exciting for comfort. Both teams still have a long way to go.
Michigan relied heavily on their starters in this one, which is a very KBA thing to do, but not necessarily one that I would do in the second game of a back-to-back. They got some key baskets from Paige Rakers (which is pronounced Rockers and is thus an extremely awesome surname). I think they were expecting better shooting from Madison Ristovski, judging from the times when they were using her. Kendra Seto got some brief minutes in relief of the posts, but nothing to write home about.
All things considered, Shannon Smith and Eugeneia McPherson would probably hit it off like a house on fire, at least in terms of playing style. Smith is somewhat more of a distributor when things are going smoothly, but as soon as there was the slightest hint of pressure, she was driving the lane and putting up highly questionable shots in the faint hope of securing a whistle, then committing stupid fouls when a bad decision led to Arizona having the ball. Her three-point stroke was pretty enough that I joked that perhaps she should be wearing 30, though perhaps making a reference to that school in Ohio was a bad plan. I honestly don't know if I would put that much faith in her decision-making ability. Val Driscoll provided a solid body in the middle, and I think I would have liked to have seen her get more touches. Siera Thompson was hot and cold on offense, but she came up with a couple of big shots late in the game. I was expecting a little more from Nicole Elmblad. Consistency isn't the word I'm looking for, but she had one or two easy finishes that should have gone down. She scrambled well for rebounds, as well. Cyesha Goree came up with the board and the sweet soft shot to send the game into overtime. She was solid throughout the game, though I wasn't happy with most of her fouls- they seemed either to be bad calls or bad decisions, no real in between.
I'm not sure about Michigan's composure under pressure. They didn't cope well with Arizona's defense, and when the going got tough in the second half, they lost a lot of the crisp ball movement that staked them to the early lead. There's a difference between not being able to make the pass and not looking to make the pass. They made stronger defensive stands in the OT, and that was the key difference, not an improvement on offense.
Arizona got such good minutes off the bench out of Breanna Workman that I thought she was the starter, which shows how much I know about Arizona women's basketball. She was really good defensively. Dejza James put in hard work on the offensive boards- I think most of her baskets came off offensive rebounds. She was very impressive for a freshman. Keyahndra Cannon scored her two buckets back to back and also demonstrated a perfect foul to stop the break on a Michigan fast break. It might be a small thing to notice, but too many players either back off the break or don't foul hard enough to stop the basket. She fouled hard and clean, making sure that there was no way the shot was getting off.
I really thought Kama Griffits was going to scrape the pipes on the ceiling with the insanely high arc of her shot. She's got a rainmaker shot, and it was pouring buckets in the first half. That shot was virtually unblockable (not that Michigan seemed to be making an effort to block it). LaBrittney Jones showed promise, but Butts had her on a short leash, relying more on Workman. Ashley Merrill didn't do anything memorable. Carissa Crutchfield relied a bit too much on a senior's flair for the dramatic when trying to get a call, but was a solid running mate for Candice Warthen. Is it weird to say that Warthen looks like a Candice? Because I'm starting to think that there's a certain essential Cand*ceness that Cand*ces share; Parker has it, Dupree has it, Warthen has it. Yes, I know I'm strange, moving along to actual analysis right now. Warthen ran amok against the Michigan defense. She's very quick, and she made good decisions with the ball. I was very impressed with her.
Actually, I was very impressed with Arizona, period. I was not expecting much from them, given the program's ill-fortune after Polk, but they were very pesky on defense. What intrigued me most was that the drills they were working on before the game were the keys to keeping the game as competitive as it was. I mean, yes, working on skills is supposed to make those skills useful in game action, but it's rare to see it in such a clear and present fashion. I also thought Butts made good adjustments throughout the game, both offensively and defensively. I think they can definitely annoy some of those top teams in the Pac-12 and snag an unexpected win or two over teams expected to finish higher.
I'm pretty sure one of the officials- the not completely bald gentleman- was originally from the state of Arizona. All the bad calls against Michigan seemed to be coming from his whistle. The loose ball calls all seemed to be coming against Michigan. Every out of bounds was going to Arizona. We were not amused.
I married a man who goes to the effort of looking up the words to "Hail to the Victors" so that he can sing the fight song for a team that is, at best, our fourth priority. That is love and basketball.
Seriously, the Arizona crowd got into it once they got into it. They practically had choreography. There were a couple of folks in fraternity gear; I wonder if they had experience with step teams.
It was a thriller, and I think both teams took a lot away from it. I took away a mild headache, but the day was only starting…
Friday, November 8, 2013
November 8th, 2013: San Francisco at Fordham
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A barrage of threes led Fordham to a season-opening 80-66 win over San Francisco in the Bronx. Abigail Corning led all scorers with 22 points, including five threes; Erin Rooney added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Taj Winston had 19 points for the Dons.
For questions of title, being on the 4, raised eyebrows, yellow mohawks, slow feet, and long-range sniping, join your intrepid and chilled blogger after the jump.
Good evening, loyal readers! We're coming to you on our usual tape delay, this time from historic Rose Hill Gym on the campus of Fordham University in the Bronx. (Well, technically, as my fingers stroke the keys, we're coming to you from a surprising seat on a Bronx-bound 4 train somewhere under Harlem.) The Rams host the Dons of the University of San Francisco, and you know me, I can't resist a West Coast team.
You may see more acid than usual in these notes, and here's a digression as to why. Normally, I have no beef with transfers. The BEast is not for everyone. Nine times out of ten, I'll wish you well, track your stats at Texas Southern or Grambling or Hawai'I or wherever, maybe even catch your games when you're in town, and there's no bad blood. However, if you decide to renounce your eligibility in the middle of the season, thus causing a coach with respect for his seniors to shoehorn you into the starting lineup, then invoke the graduate transfer rule to play elsewhere in the same city, that's a different story. So Mary Nwachukwu, who was never my favorite Johnnie anyway, is not exactly one of my favorite people in the world right now. I recognize that my distaste for her is not exactly rational and beg the indulgence of GNoD readers.
Arrived around 6:40, after getting only a little lost. The MTA and I need to have a long talk as to the appropriate speed for express trains. The operative word here is "express", kids.
The game is on teevee, I think. Very cool. Arrived late, but have the strong sense that Fordham is being physical and San Francisco is not demonstrating great shot selection.
Jennifer Azzi needs to tell Alex Maseko and the Seton Hall staff where she got that blouse, because it is perfect Pirate blue.
Taylor Proctor's family is here in full regalia- team colored Mohawk, plastic cowbells, streamers, the whole nine yards. It is awesome.
It's a bit awkward wearing my SJU scarf when the USF men are playing St. John's, but I think I finessed it well enough.
Sorry, cute kids in front of me, I didn't mean to scare you. I liked cheering with you!
T-this b-b-bus is r-really bump-bumpy. Someone wanna put in some work on the Cross Bronx, guys?
Bryn Stark not only has an awesome name, she looked pretty fierce in her brief time. Not direwolf fierce, but she'll do. Aundrea Gordon couldn't buy a bucket, but I have to like a player who can take the "AIRBALL!" chant with the kind of aplomb she did. Hashima Carothers intrigues me as someone who looks like she can be a very good player, but who right now is very, very raw. She has the look of a player- the build, the grace, the tools- but she doesn't have defensive acumen and her footwork was even worse than her teammates' (which is an overarching complaint that will be addressed later). Claudia Price played 14 minutes and I can't remember her doing anything particularly good or particularly bad, ditto for the four minutes of Alexa Hardick.
Rachel Howard turned up the offense in the second half, and I think that if USF were my team, she'd be making me tear my hair out with her ability to score at one end and give up the points just as quickly at the other end. I do love the offense, though. Taylor Proctor has nice handles for a woman of her height, but her ball control on the boards left much to be desired. I admit, I kept mixing up her and Paige Spietz, because of unfamiliarity and similar profiles. Spietz was better on the boards, and probably got the best rebounding position of her team, but that's not saying a lot. Strictly on looks, Taj Winston reminded me of Brittney Griner, with similar cheekbones and the twisted short dreads. She really turned it up in the second half, driving to the lane (though she needs to hit more of those free throws) and working hard on defense. So did Zhané Dikes, who got most of the points I saw from her off hard work- steals, rebounds, free throws off contact in the lane.
I know they're young, and this is the first game of the season, and Fordham is not exactly an easy opponent to start off against, but I was surprised how soft San Francisco was. For the most part, they weren't absorbing a lot of contact (and the players who were were smaller guards, not the taller forwards). They backed off a lot on defense too; the defense was disorganized to the point where I couldn't tell whether it was a badly executed zone or a man-to-man where players didn't know their assignments. It's a bad sign when players are giving each other the "WTF are you doing here look". There seemed to be a lot of freelancing on offense, not a lot of concerted ball movement, and a surprising amount of bad footwork from a team coached by a legendary point guard. (That, at least, I expect to be corrected over months and years.)
Really liked what I saw out of Danielle Burns, especially in the second half. She exploited the gaps in USF's defense beautifully down low. Mary Nwachukwu was who she has always been: she wanders around in the high post, she takes elbow jumpers when she gets the opportunity, she boxes out, and she can't rebound for love nor money. Danielle Padovano made so much of an impression early in the game that when she came back near the end I thought it was her first stretch of run. Gaitley seemed to make a point of bringing her end-of-the-bench players in at the end of the game, and though I'm usually all in favor of it, her insistence smacked of mockery. Either that, or the refs really weren't paying attention to her requests.
I don't remember Emily Tapio doing anything until the end of the game, but I missed the first twelve minutes or so of game time, so I acknowledge that there is the distinct possibility that she was solid in the beginning of the game. Samantha Clark was tough in the paint, but seemed to lack stamina. That is a big, solid woman, but she might have to trade in some of that bulk for longevity- they need a rock in the middle, and she could definitely be it if they can rely on her for long stretches. Abigail Corning didn't seem capable of missing threes, especially from the corner. Neither was Hannah Missry, though she got in foul trouble in the second half and wasn't as effective after that. Erin Rooney seemed to choose her shots very carefully, and I thought it was interesting that her sweet spot seemed to be straight away, or very close to it. She also displayed quite a knack for the dramatic; when she was fouled, she made sure everyone in the building knew that she was going down.
I was not thrilled with the officiating. For all that there's an emphasis on not allowing as much contact, they let a lot of banging go in the paint, more concerned with the footwork. It looked like Fordham was getting away with more of it early, but the refs definitely slacked off a bit as the game went on. I'm pretty sure tackling should not allow you to acquire the ball in basketball.
There was a student tee giveaway. Plain, but serviceable.
I love Rose Hill. I tried to take exterior establishing shots, but I can't guarantee they came out properly. Well, there's always next week.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
November 2nd, 2013: Philadelphia at Seton Hall
Just the Facts, Ma'am: A very late surge pulled Seton Hall into overtime, where they defeated Philadelphia in exhibition play, 87-85. Ka-Deidre Simmons led Seton Hall with 19 points and 11 assists; Tabatha Richardson-Smith had 16 points, 10 in overtime, and 13 rebounds; Bra'Shey Ali also notched a double-double, with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Philadelphia's Monica Schacker led all scorers with 21 points, while Bria Young added 15 points and 13 rebounds.
For unspeakable awkwardness, wardrobe malfunctions, familiar faces, missed opportunities, and far too much drama for the preseason, join your intrepid and cerulean blogger after the jump.
And we're back in the saddle again! I know you missed my walls of text, meandering asides, and the strange people I meet on my travels. I know it's been a rough two months, but I'm here for you. At the moment, "here" is a backwards-facing seat on an overheated NJ Transit car, with a rather inconvenient angle to my monitor and my purse perched on my bosom.
The MTA did not help our cause; we left the house before twelve and were barely in time to make the connection. I imagine the Knicks City Dancer across from us on the E train was somewhat more perturbed by the constant delays. (I assumed she was a Knicks City Dancer from her striking good looks, Knicks jacket, dancer's physique, large bag of clothes, and orange-and-blue eye shadow. I swear, it was the eye shadow that clinched it for me.)
We're off to South Orange today for a preseason game at Walsh Gym against Philadelphia. Being garbed in blue, with a Seton Hall foam finger in tow (we've been poking each other with it periodically during our trip) is a strange sensation. Large parts of me are screaming that this is wrong, that I'm wearing the wrong color, that this is not how I'm supposed to go to a game. I'm going to have to get used to it, though. Kick me if I'm still whinging in February.
And I managed to forget my clipboard, because I'm a genius, so if these notes are short it's because I had to run the computer to get the scorecard up. Don't worry, I'm not going to make a mistake that elementary in the regular season. Isn't that what the preseason is for?
Someone bought a basketball onesie for their kid. I don't plan on having kids, but if I did, that's what they would be wearing.
At halftime, Philadelphia is up four on Seton Hall, and yes, for the honor of the Big East, I'm embarrassed that Seton Hall is down four to a D-II team. They look really disorganized. I don't know if Coach Bozzella's gotten through to them yet. Really dumb passes to places where no one or a Philadelphia player is standing, lots of overshooting, lousy free throw shooting. Philadelphia's doing a lot of shooting from the outside, and unlike Seton Hall, they're converting those free throws.
It was all but over. And suddenly they flared to life, making huge defensive stances and getting rapid steals.
Awkward moment: between the second half and the overtime, we got a visit from Amber Thompson's mother, who was a bit confused as to what we were doing at Seton Hall (she's got an excuse; Amber's friends with Ka-Deidre Simmons). We assured her that we had not abandoned St. John's and we would still be coming to games, but that was exceedingly awkward and will hopefully not lead to trouble.
Philadelphia got very good bench minutes from Mary Newell, who actually started the second half because one of the starters was in foul trouble. She was a presence inside- good height, good footwork, rebounded well, finished well. Jackie McCarron's time came at the end of the OT, when fouls were catching up to the Rams and their coach had to start going deep into his bench to put bodies on the floor. Samantha Morris seemed to react well to having to change her number (there was blood on her #20 jersey, so in the second half she was #34). She got a little more aggressive going to the basket and scoring in the second half.
We just could not, or did not, get on Monica Schacker. She almost sent the game to double OT with two late threes back to back. She knew her spot- corner across from the bench- and she got there. Bria Young was extremely quick with her hands and feet- she broke up passes and really did a good job of getting to the basket. I can't put my finger on what I liked about Alex Heck, but there's something I like about her. It might just be that she has the same surname as a player who did well for me in my fantasy league last year. But she seemed to be in the right place at the right time a lot of the time. Tori Arnao hit the boards hard, which got her in foul trouble early in the game and eventually fouled her out of the game early in the overtime. She had a beautiful touch with the glass- I think her last two baskets were kisses off the backboard. (Morris, too- one of her shots glanced very high off the backboard.) Megan Finn was very quick- used her lack of size surprisingly well.
Overall, Philadelphia had great ball movement. They started to get flustered at the end of the game, when they were dealing with foul trouble and an increasingly involved crowd, and throwing backcourt pressure at them late really messed them up. But they impressed me for a Division II team. And I don't think they were at full strength, either; one of their co-captains didn't even play.
Janee Johnson reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it. There's a little Michelle Snow there, but not much. That might have been the complaints to the officials, but she had a good case a couple of times. She turned it up in the second half, with high-arcing shots going down with a splash of nylon instead of hard off the back of the rim. She also worked on keeping the team emotionally in the game- she and Brittany Webb were the ones leading the defense chants on the bench. Breanna Jones gave a few good defensive minutes when the Pirates were juggling foul trouble with their forwards. Tara Inman has a nice shot from the corner, but plays defense as one would expect a freshman to do in her first collegiate game- she got burned on a Philadelphia drive so badly that I winced. Jasmine McCall shoots fairly well, which I would expect from a player surnamed McCall. Brittany Webb got good position on the block, but failed to do anything with it. Defensively, she didn't do nearly enough to get in position and fouled instead of getting her hands up.
Tabatha Richardson-Smith couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in the first half, whether it was from the perimeter or on offensive rebounds. But she went and got her cape in overtime. Suddenly those tips were going in, she was getting and-1s, she was getting her threes to go down- it was beautiful. She's still got to get her act together and focus on defense, though, and she needs to finish more consistently. I really liked Sidney Cook's hustle- it was her burst late in the second half that helped spur the game-tying rally. It might be the big blonde hair, but she always caught my eye on the boards. Bra'Shey Ali also did well on the boards and took excellent advantage of her opportunities. I like her. Ka-Deidre Simmons's shot selection, both in the taking and the passing up of shots, left much to be desired, but she found her teammates well. Couple of real pretty passes. I'm not sure if she's still questioning her knee, or if she's still rusty because it's the preseason, or if she's not sure about the play selection, but something's off about her game. Chizoba Ekedigwe is a good anchor for a zone defense, and when she keeps her hands up, nothing is getting past her. I'd like to see her be more assertive on offense, though. That might not be her strength, but she should be able to get something going at her height. I'm blaming Anne Donovan; Ekedigwe is her kind of post player.
Speaking of AD, she was at the game. Wasn't sure at the time if that was her or her sister, as we were in the opposite corner and all I could make out was the long face and ridiculous height.
Not pleased with the officiating. A lot of contact that wasn't called, some questionable procedural calls, one very bad out of bounds (just because the shot was so horrible that it went off the side of the backboard support, that doesn't mean it was deflected).
Band didn't show up 'til late. No dance team. Of course, they were all preparing for the men's game that was to follow. (Didn't stay for that. My butt hurt. Must remember to bring cushions for those wooden Walsh Gym bleachers.)
If Seton Hall can get its act together, and if they can provide some upsets in the non-conference to build on, I think they can make Walsh Gym the second-best homecourt advantage in the Big East, behind only DePaul. The acoustics are great, and it's the right size for the crowd they're likely to draw. You can make a little bit of noise echo off that ceiling.
Free throws. Dear Lord, Seton Hall, they're free. My Johnnie girls could give you lessons, and regular readers of the GNoD know my laments regarding the Red Storm's free throw shooting. Take Simmons out of the equation and it gets worse.
There's a lot of work to be done, but there's potential to work with. Seton Hall might be rough to watch this year, but I think they'll make a ruckus in two years.
Friday, October 25, 2013
October 25th, 2013: St. John's Tip off
Is it November yet?
Good evening! College basketball is more or less underway with Midnight Madness or reasonable fascimiles thereof. I'm in the upper deck at Carnesecca Arena, shaking my head every so often at the brilliant planning of the athletic department. I hate having to argue and pray for tickets.
There is currently an alumni game going on, which mostly consists of guys trying to recapture their old athleticism. I don't recognize most of the guys, though they managed to get Felipe Lopez back. The ladies are represented by Sky Lindsay (whose extensions are probably bigger than our freshman point guard) and Mercedes Dukes (who appears to have gotten married at some point- she was announced as Mercedes Lewis). Alumni games are much more fun when you pretend to care, y'all. Also, Mercedes has four points, which I think is her single-game career high. (Dukes, I love you, but we loved you for being a firestarting defensive spark off the bench, who kept everyone fired up.)
"An influential contributor"- yes, the sure sign that you could find sweet Fanny Adams to say about Dukes statistically. But it's true. She was, if not the heart of the 2006 team, at least one of the ventricles of it.
The dancing girls (and boy) are out. I don't know if I like the black tops, but the team looks good so far. Band could use a little practice, but I don't know if they're at full strength.
Son, did you just steal the ball from your own teammate? SMH.
There is a dude who is wearing a Phoenix Coyotes jersey and I don't know why.
Sky Lindsay on Rob Thomas is not a good plan, IDGAF if it's an exhibition game.
Oh, hey, Lopez. Nice move, I think Nadirah did it against LaSalle that one time.
Dumbass pass, son, but nice job by Sky to snag the steal.
Yes, I write game notes of mild dismay even for exhibition games where no one on the court cares about defense. Just me tonight- our dashing reporter is being held for ransom by Pirates.
Oh, don't tell me we got stuck with an eating contest too... fortunately, this is speed, not quantity. Seton Hall brought in Kobayashi. Does having part of it fall out factor into who finishes first? Ahahah, the band started chanting Q-DO-BA! I love these guys. They are my crew.
Oooof, off the rim for the halfcourt shot. Nice range, dude!
Gina and Selina poked their heads out before, but they went back in. I don't like the new number font, but the jerseys are all right.
Oh, hey, something's happening. The lights went out. We have active basketball players soon! Of course Johnny's theme song is "Johnny B. Goode". Aaaaand there goes the fog machine.
Key, switch to decaf. Amber's left foot is in a boot, and that makes me sad. Jade's a big girl- for the first time in a long time, I'm not worried about having bulk down low, with Jade, Sandie, and Selina. Amber and Selina bring the height. And then Aliyyah and Danaejah in the backcourt... ohhhh, yes. Mallory looks like she's going for the Le'Coe Willingham role.
We have names on our jerseys for the first time in, like, ever. It's so weird. And the one year where it would have been easy to tell the freshmen apart, of course. (Yeah, it took me a while to keep Key and Bri straight their first year.)
We won't talk about the dance-off. It was kind of awkward. Guys. Stahp.
The basketballs finally showed up around 8:20. Three-point shootout! Nae, Ashley, and Bri, versus Gina, Key, and Mallory. Team 1 won.
Come on, why doesn't the dude's jersey get bling? Everyone deserves bling.
Gina spotted someone in the stands- maybe Tesia or Day, from the looks of her- and squeed so loud I heard her in the upper deck. It was weirdly adorable. I never pegged Gina as the squee type.
Constantly reminding myself that it's SJU now, not STJ. Even though the logo is still STJ.
Rysheed Jordan, I gotta love your cojones, what with being a guy named Jordan who wears #23. No expectations here, not at all.
Okay, dude in the front row, you have a patch on your jersey. You are legit and I approve.
Note to self: butt pads. All the seat cushions. I think it's time to flash the New Orleans ones.
The light-up spirit sticks have settings on them, which is kind of cool.
During intros, I'm pretty sure Bri was wearing the "oh god is he really doing that in public" face when Sir'Dominic Pointer came out. I wear that one a lot. :D
Max Hooper is, like, the perfect basketball name. But JaKarr Sampson, Orlando Sánchez, and Phil Greene IV are stealing the show in the scrimmage.
Senior ladies are judging the slam dunk contest again, from the looks of it. Sir'Dominic is participating, which is unfair to the other participants, since Briana will give him him a great score no matter what (his first dunk was weak and everything else he's tried has been a failure, and she still gave him a 10). Christian Jones took an early lead after straight 10s on his second attempt. JaKarr Sampson and Sir'Dominic Pointer both tried a maneuver with a pass from the crowd, and it failed. Rysheed Jordan took over with a leap over one of his teammates, then upped the stakes with two. Further attempts were spoiled because the coaches did not approve of potentially landing on his teammates. He finished third because of lousy scoring by the ladies. C'mon, guys. Really? The passes have been good, but the finishes have been bad. Christian Jones won with a bit of spin, but Jordan's first was still the best.
Lupe Fiasco put on a good show. Aliyyah got up and danced with him a couple of times. Something tells me a Chicago kid like Lupe is secretly rooting for DePaul, though.
Is it November yet? Is it is it is it is it?
Sunday, September 15, 2013
September 15th, 2013: New York at Washington
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Tayler Hill had 16 points off the bench to lead the Washington Mystics to a 70-52 win over the New York Liberty in their regular season finale. Kia Vaughn added 10 points and 12 rebounds for Washington. Kelsey Bone led New York with 11 points; Toni Young had 10.
For farewells, beginnings, causing trouble, courting trouble, photobombing, free stuff, and well wishes, join your intrepid and conclusive blogger after the jump.
Here we are! It's the end of the season, for good or for ill, and if this is how we're going to end it, then we're ending the season in style.
You see, Albert hooked us up again, this time with his season seats... which are in the first row behind the road bench. You know you're close when Plenette Pierson is asking WTF you are doing when you're posing your moose on the chair behind the bench. There will be pictures.
Washington was far more courteous than Connecticut- the fan bus is low down and directly behind the road bench. The team has noticed, and appreciated. We've been getting a little grief from some of the locals, but that's understandable. It's like there's a cultural divide between DC and NY or something.
Lot of Katie appreciation going in the stands, though I don't know if the Mystics have anything planned. I've seen jerseys and signs. Katie seems to have made herself popular in the one year she spent in DC.
Very breathy anthem. Stop gasping for air and sing. She had a pleasant voice otherwise.
That was worth it. I don't care that we lost, except that's not how Katie's career should have ended, but that was worth it. The fan bus behind us was loud and into the game, which I think spurred some of the Mystics fans in the area to actually get more into the game. (Well, except for the peculiar gentleman in the fourth row who appeared to be under the influence of illicit substances. Sir, the women three seats away from you do not care about your HIV tests. Security escorted him out before the second quarter started.)
Mini-posters of Ivory Latta and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt were the giveaway today, handed out as people left the game. Sensible approach to giveaways. Less chance of them being scattered and lost.
The peril of being super close to the bench is that you can't get a really good overview of the game. You get some amazing moments, but you don't get the whole game.
Kamiko Williams brought energy off the bench, but a lot of it was misdirected energy. She had a very makeable shot that she blew. Her defense was better than the average rookie, but not as good as it could have been. Being up close allows you to really get a good look at DeLisha Milton-Jones and her amazing extendable arms as she pulls rebounds away over people's heads. She spent a lot of time in the middle clogging up space and getting called for nonsense fouls, but we'll get to the nonsense fouls in a little while. Kelsey Bone was not as strong on the boards as she should have been- she's a very big and very strong woman, she should be going hard after the boards. I think the refs might have gotten into her head a little bit. She picked up steam in the fourth quarter. Alex Montgomery was off her game- busy on defense, but not necessarily effective, and her shot was somewhat questionable. I mean, more than usual.
Cappie didn't look bad at all. I'm going to pretend the over-the-top lipstick was part of a Tina Thompson tribute.
Toni Young started the game off hot on offense, but Bill was yelling at her a lot for lapsing on defense and fumbling passes. I don't know if he was being extra hard on her today because she wasn't playing great or if she's his usual target, but I can't imagine it was fun for the kid. Plenette Pierson cleaned up the boards like a vacuum cleaner- if balls were being tapped out, she made sure that she was the one who got them. She was having all kinds of issues with her shot, though. The shooting overall was pretty awful. Leilani Mitchell looked spent. Even the shot that went in look like it was taking all her energy to get up and over. She had moments on defense, but mostly looked ineffective, even against guards her own size. Kara Braxton showed flashes of fight and skill, but mostly moments of standing there and watching other players get rebounds. She brought the ball down low a lot more than a post player of her size should. Katie Smith was trying to have the kind of send-off that Tina Thompson did in Seattle. It didn't go well. My camera was not in position for the moments that she and Tayler Hill were guarding each other, and those stretches did not go well for Katie.
Lots of opportunities at the basket, so little finishing. They better be working on that during the off-season, if they don't all want to face the wrath of Bill Laimbeer by the time they get back to training camp. (Okay, all of them except Katie, and she might be dishing out the wrath as an assistant.)
Emma Meesseman showed off her midrange game more in this one- most of the shots she hit were open jumpers. Not that she didn't mix it up a little bit, but she seemed to be working more of the high post than the low post. Michelle Snow doesn't seem to mesh with the kids- she'll do well enough for herself, but she doesn't seem to be looking to get the kids involved in the play, which is not good for the long-term good of the team. The box score claims that she had two assists, but I don't remember her passing the ball all that much. Nadirah McKenith ran a solid offense and hit a couple of shots (of course, the first photo I took {after realizing my mother would disown me if I came back from Washington without any pictures of Nadirah} was of the perfect fast break lay-up that she blew). The people around us were confused that we weren't thrilled for her. Well, part of me was and always will be, but it's summer, and therefore I root for the Liberty. I don't root for opposing players against the Liberty; if I were going to do that, I wouldn't have taken a day off work to come down to Washington on Friday and root for the Mystics. (Not that I'm not glad she's happy, and not that I don't love that Mystics fans like her. But I'm a Liberty fan. {And she knows that too.}) Tierra Ruffin-Pratt is tough, especially on the boards, but her shot wasn't falling today. She reminds me of a miniature Monique Currie, which probably means she's in the right place. Tayler Hill was feeling it beyond the arc. She stepped up when her team needed her because of Ajavon's foul trouble. If she keeps shooting like this while I'm around, I'm afraid Albert's going to forcibly relocate me to Washington. She was also pretty good defensively on Katie Smith- stripped her a couple of times. Quanitra Hollingsworth is tall. Uh. That's about it?
Ivory Latta had moments of blinding stupidity (that attempted teardrop... Ivory, you're adorable but you're not Mark Jackson) but quashed any thoughts of Liberty comebacks with big shots. She's much more annoying when you're not rooting for her. Apparently she's also quite amusing in video features, but I didn't see any of those. Kia Vaughn was a woman on a mission, and that mission was to get every rebound she possibly could. Her shooting was only so-so, but she made up for it by attacking the boards. Matee Ajavon committed a lot of stupid fouls, and between that and the hot hand of Tayler Hill, Ajavon spent most of the game on the bench. Strangely enough, I'm okay with this. Crystal Langhorne was the focus of a lot of the Liberty's defensive effort, and I think the one thing we were successful at was getting her out of her comfort zone on offense. She hit the boards hard, though. I don't actually remember most of what Monique Currie did, other than the so-called jump ball during which she never really had possession.
Things what I noticed behind the Liberty bench that I had not noticed before: Taj has a really pretty clipboard, though I can't tell if the design is painted on, stickered on, or custom. The color contrast on Toni Young's tattoos is spectacular. Plenette is very involved in things, whether it's double-checking the defensive schemes, advising her teammates, or letting them know who's doing what out there. Some players have their own smoothies (when we observed them, Laura Ramus offered to whip one up). Bill is really, really tall, and you can't exactly yell "down in front" at Bill Laimbeer.
Both sets of fans chanted Katie's name at the end of the game. We started it, then it died down, then the Mystics fans picked it up, and we couldn't very well let them do it by themselves, could we? Katie kept looking at us like, "uh, hey, y'all, the game's still going on even though I got taken out, you know that, right?" Meanwhile, Kara and DeLisha were pumping their fists in time with us.
Love the way the Mystics give away the jerseys at the end of the season. The random draw is a nice twist.
These officials can step on ALL the Legos. There was a lot of Washington contact not called that was magically a foul when a Liberty player did it. I really didn't appreciate Currie poking Katie in the throat without a call being made. You can look at the foul differential for yourselves.
The Greene Turtle stand in the arena is on point. Almost makes me wish we'd decided to go there for lunch, but if you're in Chinatown (or at least what used to be Chinatown) you should go for Chinese.
So here's to the last of the originals, the last of the first to say yes to the ABL, the woman who put 7,883 points on the scoreboard in the United States of America, the woman with four championships and three gold medals. Here's to you, Katie Smith, for all the awesome things you have done and the feats you have accomplished. Whatever you set your mind to, you'll do, as you've done everything else.
To the rest of you: see you at the Garden next year.
Friday, September 13, 2013
September 13th, 2013: Connecticut at Washington
Just the Facts, Ma'am: Ivory Latta had 19 points, including five threes out of a team-record 12, as the Washington Mystics romped over the Connecticut Sun 82-56. Kia Vaughn added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Washington. Mistie Bass led Connecticut with 13 points.
For injury added to injury, train rides, nosy questions, dressing in weird costumes, misplaced pride, and misplaced fans, join your intrepid and stuck blogger after the jump... and then get her out of this chair, she's stuck.
You thought you were done with me when the Liberty finished their home schedule, didn't you? You thought those long huge blocks of text full of perceived wit and self-proclaimed wisdom were going into mothballs until November, didn't you? Well, think again. Your intrepid blogger came into a bit of money some months ago, and the one big splurge we planned was a trip down to Washington to cheer for Nadirah McKenith.
This is the kind of logic my brain uses: I really like Nadirah. I want to cheer for her. I can't cheer for her when she plays in New York or Newark, because she's a Mystic and therefore I'd be rooting against the Liberty, and I don't root against my team. (I may wish for short-term failure for long-term gain, but even then I want to see some fight out of them.) Therefore, if I want to cheer for Nadirah, I have to do it somewhere other than New York. None of the Mystics' games in Connecticut fit into my busy schedule. Therefore, if I want to cheer for Nadirah, I have to go to Washington, and so here I am in the District of Columbia, with holes in my shoes and an Internet connection of questionable reliability.
Albert, one of the finest bloggers Swish Appeal has to offer, hooked us up with our tickets, for which I am eternally and infinitely grateful. Mystics fans in general, every time I've been to DC, have been amazing, from my first trip (tickets to All-Star practice) to the last Board Junkie get-together (poster) to this. (Especially when I saw the ticket prices, yowza.)
But you get bang for your buck, I'll say that. The inside of the arena is nice. The boards are bright and sharp, and there are stat boards in all corners to go with the giant jumbotron over center corut. The set-up for the team store is pretty sweet (and 40% off is one of the holy phrases of my people, so I bought a couple of things, and if there's a clearance sale on Sunday I might just buy a Jasmine Thomas shirt and vandalize it). I love the season ticket holder shirts- "if lost, please return me to Verizon Center" on the front, "because I never miss a game" and the schedule on the back. The staff is really nice- bonus points to the security guy who checked my bag before the gates opened, which is a practical time-saving step that neither New York nor Connecticut will take.
Well played, cameraman: during one of the "na na na-na na-na" segments of "Can't Hold Us", he stuck the camera on Nadirah.
Friendly but extremely nosy child, why are you asking me what I paid for my hotel room?
Missed the biddy game at halftime, on a wild goose chase for I know not who carrying I know not what, hence the lack of halftime notes. Your intrepid blogger will attempt to not make the same mistake on Sunday.
Cute anthem kid, less cute anthem, but when an armed forces specialist tells you to stand for the anthem, boy howdy do you stand for the anthem. A very DC touch.
Connecticut was down to seven players- I don't know what happened to Tan White (yes, I know in the box score it had something to do with her left hand). All I knew at the time was that she was in the starting lineup when we got into the building, and then suddenly Iziane Castro Marques was in the starting lineup and Tan still had her pants on. Which sounds wrong... I meant her tearaway pants.
So the entire Sun bench was Kayla Pedersen and Sydney Carter. Obviously, both of them got a lot of minutes. Pedersen got on the boards well, though there did seem to be a lot of flailing by her. Sydney Carter had a really nice game- I think she's trying to prove that she belongs in the league, and in the games that I've seen her, she's definitely proven that. She ran the offense very well, and her shot was sweet. She had a very pretty steal to start the fourth quarter while Ivory Latta's mind was perhaps not on the game. Maybe she needs to work on her defense a little, but she's got game.
You would think Mike Thibault and the Washington Mystics would know that Iziane Castro Marques likes to shoot a little bit. But they were letting her have that right corner all night, and that's where she hit both of her threes. She even tried passing the ball a couple of times, but after what Kelsey Griffin did with it near the end of the game, I'm not sure she's ever going to do that again. Come on, Sun. Y'all need to hit shots if you want Izi to even consider passing the ball again. Renee Montgomery got on the ball a lot on defense, and she seemed much less involved in the offense than usual. Her shot selection left a lot to be desired, as it usually does. Mistie Bass did work down low. I think her teammates accidentally fought with her for rebounds a couple of times. I know Pedersen was getting tangled with her own teammates. Kelsey Griffin had occasional lapses of sanity wherein she was under the impression that she was in fact a mythological griffin and could fly. Kelsey, I regret to inform you that you can't fly. Sorry. You rebound pretty well, though. And people do like to leave her open for that long two. I'm sort of grateful the Liberty aren't the only ones who do it. I don't remember what Kalana Greene did, except for one successful drive and the occasional attempt at a rebound, attempts that were not as successful as I'm sure Anne Donovan would have liked.
I suspect that because the Sun don't have a single go-to player, they have to work as a team unit a lot more. They played a lot of help defense, with a lot of switching and doubling. I also was impressed with their on-ball defense and some of their ball movement.
Quanitra Hollingsworth looked surprisingly ineffective for a player I'd seen be somewhat useful in New York. Q, stop trying to solve Fermat's Last Theorem in your head and work on calculating the angle of your shot. Nadirah McKenith ran a solid offense; I think she'd have had more assists if Kia Vaughn could hold on to the ball, but I recognize my biases. She had a shoulder sleeve on and was applying heat. If that's an ongoing situation, that might explain why she's been shooting less. Tayler Hill decided to show off her stroke from long range- she and Ivory Latta were taking turns at one point, and it was kind of awesome. She still does stupid things on the court, but that's to be expected from a rookie, and I'm glad she's making strides. Emma Meesseman hit the boards well and looked good. Tierra Ruffin-Pratt followed her shot with impressive ferocity- I think she got all her offensive rebounds on two possessions. That is not a woman I neither want to anger nor mess with in a dark alley. Michelle Snow spent a lot of time arguing with the refs and doing stupid things.
Kia Vaughn came with a lot of energy in this one, on both ends of the floor. I'd have liked if she had better hands, but we can't be perfect, and she was fierce. Ivory Latta was balling. She took a couple of those threes from Tina Thompson land, and they were nothing but net. I was taken aback by her utter lack of lateral quickness. Like any. At all. It's such a stark contrast to her usual caffeine bullet time that it becomes noteworthy. I don't remember Matee Ajavon doing much except committing fouls and taking shots that seemed designed to look good and not be effective. Crystal Langhorne hit the boards and boxed out well. I love when she gets her blue collar on. Monique Currie was hitting from deep; even the two-pointer she hit was with a foot on the three-point line (a call she does love to argue).
The shooting was amazing. Every time Connecticut tried to get a run together, Washington hit a three. And then it snowballed and suddenly they were up 20. I love seeing the kids play together- that's a very promising young core, and a very collegiate style of building a team.
I don't know if manipulating a double bungee cord is a life skill that she'll have any use for, but the woman in the Dunkin Donuts contest used momentum to her advantage.
How does one go about acquiring a Chick-Fil-A sandwich? Izi Castro Marques gave the whole arena one by missing two free throws in the fourth quarter. I don't like who they give their money to, but if I can sate my curiosity for free, I'll do it.
I thought the tech on Latta was weak, though we don't know what she said.
LOL of the game: Ivory Latta getting her groove on at the start of the fourth quarter.
I couldn't bring myself to say "Let's Go Mystics", but I can chant "DE-FENSE" real good. And if they keep using the opening clap from "Car Wash", they're going to get it from Liberty fans on Sunday.
This was fun. It's going to be more interesting next time.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
September 10th, 2013: Phoenix at New York
Just the Facts, Ma'am: DeWanna Bonner and Candice Dupree each had 18 points to lead the Phoenix Mercury over the New York Liberty in New York's last home game of the season. Diana Taurasi added 17 points, nine assists, and six rebounds. Katie Smith led New York with 17 points; Plenette Pierson had five points, six assists, and 15 rebounds.
For the end of the road, shirts, overcoming adversity, squeaky children, and appropriation, join your intrepid and unburdened blogger after the jump.
Barring a perverse application of the word "miracle", this is it. This is the last time I will have to shake my fist to the heavens at the Q59 being fifteen minutes late so that I miss the intricate network of connections and fall into disaster like a misplayed line of dominoes. This is the last time I will rub the head of the little sculpture that stands at the top of the stairs leading to and from the L train platform. This is the last time I will have to cram myself into the Newark train, the last time I will have to fight with the SmartLink reader. If there is mercy in this world, this is the last home game for the Liberty. I'm tired. I'm done with this trip. Eighteen, and eighteen, and eighteen, and I'm done.
We didn't even get a perfect attendance award this year. The on-court photo was open to all season subscribers. I don't do cameras, and it's postgame, so... no. I want to get out of Newark as quickly as possible and leave the years of exile behind.
Don't get me wrong, the Prudential Center has grown on me as an arena. For an autograph hunter, it's well laid out. The lounges are nice. The seats are comfortable. But I miss my Diet Coke, and I'm tired of people not reading signs, and I'm ready to go home.
Today's commute, which has so far taken me an hour and just barely gotten me to World Trade Center, is certainly not doing New Jersey any favors. I missed the anthem (though apparently I didn't miss much; Kym's really lost her voice) and I missed the start of the ceremony to honor Katie. I saw the framed jerseys from the Lynx and the national team, and I saw the check that Cappie gave to the scholarship fund in Logan, but I don't know what else there was. They were down to the medium shirts by the time I arrived, but I think I know how to offload one of those.
There are distressingly sparkly preteens performing at the half. I try not to watch that kind of thing. It tends to lead to nothing but trouble. It's a miracle that we're only down two, given that Cappie's not playing. (She could look worse. She doesn't look bad. The lipstick is a bit much, but that's looking for trouble.)
We're currently seeing a slideshow of Katie Smith being awesome, which has a bejeezus lot of Team USA pictures. Haven't spotted any Quest pictures in there, though they went all the way back to Ohio State and her very unfortunate collegiate hair. Gee, I wonder why.
Katie did manage to sneak in one good shot during the ceremony- "thank you for coming, those of you who made it". Or words to that effect. But it came off as "LOL empty seats".
We're having a bit of an issue getting a hand in DeWanna Bonner's face. I know it's usually good strategy to let her bomb away from quarter-court, but if she's hit two of them, perhaps you might want to consider guarding her. Of course, Diana is being Diana and hitting jumpers in stride.
Nothing says front-runner louder than a Griner jersey and a color-coordinated Heat cap. GTFO, kid.
I don't care that we lost. It didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. But we fought to the last possessions. We took a full-strength Phoenix team down to the wire. I'm okay with losing so long as we fight, and we fought, even without Cappie- maybe especially without Cappie.
What happened to Chardé Houston? I missed the story behind the facemask, but I blinked and she was wearing it, and I assume that she didn't magically generate it by twitching her nose. Despite the extremely memorable facemask, I don't remember what she actually did. Jasmine James saw a fair number of minutes in the backcourt, and it looked like Taurasi was taking the kid under her wing a little bit. There were a couple of teaching moments. She definitely looked like a rookie and like a midseason replacement, but she looked like she might find a way to belong if she goes overseas and works on her overall game. Lynetta Kizer was extremely physical, especially with Plenette- there were a couple of points near the end of the game where I thought Plenette was going to make some very pointed suggestions on where Kizer could go at her earliest convenience, in addition to perhaps derogatory remarks directed at Kizer's ancestry and preferences. She kept trying to extend her shooting range, and I'm not sure she has that range. Alexis Hornbuckle threw a wicked tackle on Leilani on the fast break- right move and everyone knew it, but it was still a hard hit. She was there for her defense- nothing more and nothing less. Krystal Thomas gave good minutes in relief of Brittney Griner. Obviously, she's not nearly the inside presence that Griner is- she doesn't have the reach and she doesn't have the height, even with the hair, but she gets the job done. She has a bit of the Mercury tendency to whine, but she's the only one of the bench players for whom that is a major problem. I had forgotten how much I enjoy watching Penny Taylor play. She's workmanlike yet graceful. She accepts her fouls, moves on, and hits the big shot. She doesn't give up on what she sees as an opportunity- if she sees a ballhandler who looks uncomfortable bringing the ball up, she'll take a couple of extra swipes before heading back up court. It's good to see her back in the game.
Again, if DeWanna Bonner is hitting the long threes, you might want to change up your defensive scheme and prevent her from getting them. I mean, I don't get paid for this, but it only seems logical. To be fair, the first time Bonner tried to go for one of those deep ones in the second half, she got swatted. She nailed one in the fourth quarter that sealed the game, for all intents and purposes. I do wish she'd use that frame of hers a bit more than just setting up as a spot-up shooter. Oh, and she needs to stop complaining every time a foul is called on her. Brittney Griner mostly wasn't looking for her shot, as near as I could tell, especially in the middle of the game. The Liberty defenders were playing her pretty tough. But she gave it back just as hard on the other end. And when the attention came to her, she did well finding her teammates- she had an awfully pretty drop pass to Briana Gilbreath. Gilbreath was often used in offense-defense substitutions, and to make lineups difficult for the Liberty to defend. Candice Dupree was smooth, especially in the fourth quarter, when she lit up the Liberty with paint jumpers. She's awfully pretty to watch. If I liked Phoenix more, I could watch her and Penny Taylor in the frontcourt all day. Diana Taurasi was Diana Taurasi. She fired away with no hesitation and no need to set her feet. She drove the lane hard. She set up her teammates. She ran her mouth at Plenette Pierson, which is generally not considered among the world's greatest ideas. She got Alex Montgomery good in the face, hard enough to spin her into a ref; she also got Alex with a shoulder to the chin very late in the game, one that was not called anything. She kvetched a lot to the refs. I can't bring myself to feel bad for her potentially missing an irrelevant game.
Kamiko Williams came off the bench briefly to spell players on defense. She failed pretty spectacularly on offense. That should have been a fast break lay-up, and it turned into a botched rebound and a turnover. We finally got to hear Mike W. give the proper cadence for DeLisha Milton-Jones's name, though she did seem to be trying to deny him that pleasure. I don't know if I would have gone to her for the last shot, not at this time in her career. She should have been a more effective matchup than she was. Kelsey Bone needs to follow her damn shot. She looked scared of Griner (which doesn't make sense, didn't they play against each other at some point?) and didn't find her mojo until late in the game. Alex Montgomery fought for every loose ball and stuck tight on defense. She was great. She's grown a lot on me this year. She saw an opportunity to make her mark, and she took it. I hope
Toni Young started the game off looking fearless. She went right at Brittney Griner on the boards, using her incredible leap to steal away rebounds from the taller center. (Reminded me a bit of how Amber Thompson from St. John's played against Griner at the Maggie Dixon a couple of years ago.) She was also trying to extend her shooting range, which wasn't a bad experimental idea if Bill really wants to transition her to the three. She tipped out a lot of rebounds. Plenette Pierson picked up most of them. The rims were not kind to her. But she was fighting hard on both sides of the floor and absorbing a lot of contact. I can't be mad at her. Leilani Mitchell was not practical in this game. I don't mean that as anything about her, but Taurasi was regularly the shortest Mercury player on the floor. You can't put Leilani on the floor against that lineup. She's just too adorably tiny. Kara Braxton had flashes of decency, punctuated by using her... er... assets as a very successful distraction against Bonner, before returning to steady states of apathy and indolence. In other words, she's Kara. Katie Smith's shot was on tonight, but in a twisted way, that might have set up the end of the game- pretty much everyone knew the pass was going to her, which resulted in a turnover. But it was a great way for her to leave New York behind.
You know it's been an injury-plagued season when even the team surgeon has been down for a while. Okay, so she was fighting cancer and kicked its butt, so she's awesome, but still. She got a round of applause and a personalized jersey from the team.
Refs can take a long walk off a short pier as far as I'm concerned. Lots of contact going uncalled, and a lot of issues with getting the out-of-bounds calls right- there were three or four hotly contested questions of possession. I thought Bill was going to blow a fuse. And then you wonder why people are getting hit in the head.
It's over and I'm relieved. The season's not technically over, and you won't be rid of me for another week yet. But there's nothing left but pride and development. There's a freedom in that, a weight lifted.from my heart, perhaps a beat skipped at the thought of having a lottery pick in reasonably capable hands. The merciful blow has come.
So goodbye, Newark. Goodbye, ridiculous hike from Penn Station. Goodbye, creepy street people who cluster around the benches and eye us as we enter the station. Goodbye, extra train ride. Goodbye, Pepsi. Goodbye, stupid people standing in our line of sight. Goodbye, lousy signage. Goodbye, three years of failure and churning. Goodbye, Prudential Center.
The years of exile are over. Next year, at the Garden!
Friday, September 6, 2013
September 6th, 2013: Atlanta at New York
Just the Facts, Ma'am: The Atlanta Dream put four players in double figures and took over the game in the second quarter to beat the New York Liberty 70-57. Angel McCoughtry led the Dream with 16 points, adding seven rebounds; Érika de Souza had 12 points and 14 rebounds. Kara Braxton led New York with 17 points before fouling out.
For flailing at fail, missing wheelchairs, late nights on the E train, runaway centers, and a lingering agony, join your intrepid and crumby blogger after the jump.
It's almost over now, almost over now...
I have to learn to be more specific in my wishes. We have the Shock front office, and we have a calendar, but it's a boring calendar with boring photos that we've seen before. Okay, guys, fine. Raise the bar next year. Y'all did cars in Detroit and found a way to make Elaine Powell look kind of pretty, y'all can find a New York theme and style up the team.
This New Jersey mix they're doing for "Thank You Newark" night is pretty awesome. Somewhere, though, someone in the stands is angry that Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi weren't included if it was going to be a New Jersey mix instead of just Newark-and-its-environs.
Barb. I love ya. You were solid for us as a player and you appreciate the value of your vote. But you have to stop with the horizontal stripes. You are not in playing shape anymore. You do not have the figure for horizontal stripes. I know this from personal experience. Mama Taj's dress, however, is on point.
It's probably not a good sign that Kamiko fumbled and Kelsey dropped her pants during warm-ups. But that's okay. I'm almost hoping we hit the tragic number tonight to end it.
"Single Ladies" does not go there, music. Someone get Kia Vaughn out of the DJ booth and back to the Mystics game.
Plenette, it might not have been tactful to crow about going back to the Garden during the thank you to Newark, but I'm down with that.
Normally I detest the addition of "God Bless America" to the pregame festivities, but the singer was awesome. So was the anthem singer.
I am not happy with Ruth Riley right now. Her and her stupidly spaced jersey... I don't like Cappie and the Miami Sol were the team of my heart, but you do not kick my players. EVER. I'm not thrilled with running Cappie back out there on the injuries, but I'm not Bill Laimbeer (I'm way too short).
Seriously, this season cannot be over soon enough. I don't usually say this as a WNBA fan, but between the utterly ridiculous number of injuries across the league and the epic fail that has been my team at home, this season has been too long for me. I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way, either. I suspect there are Sun fans, Silver Stars fans, even Fever fans, who would like the parade of injuries and incidents to stop.
Ruth Riley played like she was trying to make Bill Laimbeer proud of her. Her fouls were tough and physical, especially that kick on Cappie (yes, still irked, no, not letting go, yes, I retain the urge to yell "SWEEP THE LEG!" at her). She did try to get her outside jumper going, but the rim was not amused and spun her shots out pretty much the entire time. Yes, even her free throws. I cackled maniacally at that. Alex Bentley demonstrated her superb knack for hitting shots late in the shot clock, even from awkward angles. I think three of her baskets came late in the clock- I know she had a deuce as the shot clock expired. That's an impressive knack, and against every other team in the league I hope it lasts her entire career. Aneika Henry brought physicality in surprisingly few minutes- I don't know if Fred Williams was trying to rest her for the playoffs or if she's nursing some kind of injury (she had on a shoulder brace that could have passed for armor at a Renaissance Faire) or if Señor Fred thought Riley was playing better for some bizarre reason. Tiffany Hayes annoyed me. I hate seeing bench players take four steps and not get called for traveling. I hate seeing bench players throw shoulders and not get called for the offensive foul. It's one thing if you're going to grant Jordan Rules to a superstar, but there is no known universe where Tiffany Hayes is a superstar. Okay, she did kill us from the corner in the second quarter, because we have no pattern recognition and refuse to cover someone who keeps hitting shots from the same spot, because why would we want to do that? She still annoys me.
Armintie Herrington jumps like she's got coiled springs in her legs. She skied for boards and saved a lot more than the two offensive boards that she was credited with. Her hands were spectacular on defense today- there was one sequence where she got the ball stolen from her and stole it right back without any hesitation. Her shots in the lane were going off strong, but her teammates seemed to be expecting them. Érika de Souza was a beast in the paint. No one was stopping her. Granted, no one seemed to be trying, but even when some form of effort was detected, she powered her way to the basket. Jasmine Thomas took advantage of her teammates' quick hands, as well as her own, to pry away steals and get the break going. She had a couple of unfortunate moments with Katie Smith- ran her over on a charge, got her in the face on a hit. The rim would appear to like Le'Coe Willingham. She got very lucky on one of her shots in the fourth quarter, but we'll get to that in a moment. I kept getting distracted by her hair, to be honest- it looked like either the braiding came undone or the ponytail was trying to escape. I seem to recall that hair being attached to a couple of pretty tough picks.
Interesting moment in the second half- Liberty shot missed, rebound went out of bounds as Willingham and Henry converged on it. After it was determined that the ball went off Atlanta, Willingham and Henry had a very... animated... conversation. Obviously, from nineteen rows up on the other side of the court, I couldn't tell what they were saying, but whatever was going on there, it unsettled Fred Williams enough that he called timeout shortly afterwards.
I don't know why Toni Young was so thoroughly buried on the bench in this one. It's not like we ever had a puncher's chance. She got in and hit her first jumper, and that made us happy. Leilani Mitchell continues to get a ridiculous amount of pop from the crowd, to the point where it's starting to genuinely freak me out, and I don't think she's responding well to it. She's become more tentative as a shooter (which is not a good sign when that's about the only thing you're being allowed to do) and didn't get much else done on the floor. You should have heard the place when she hit the free throw on the defensive three-seconds call. You'd think she hit a buzzer-beater. I expect better from Liberty fans. Kelsey Bone showed flashes, but not much else, and her defense against de Souza was weak. You have to go hard on her. She's one tough motha- okay, I'm shutting my mouth, which I wish the drunk guy across from me would do, because he can't sing, and definitely not in falsetto. DeLisha Milton-Jones had nothing today. Couldn't get a shot to fall and seriously got blocked by Le'Coe Willingham. Lots of blocks were occurring, but someone with DeLisha's legendary wingspan should not be getting blocked by a shorter player with less vertical. Alex Montgomery was tough, and her shot showed up. Huh, she took fewer shots than I thought. She was one of the few players who actually took it to the hole. Leilani had a pretty find for her.
Sir, please do not attempt to moonwalk on a moving train while under the influence of something stronger than alcohol. Sir. Sir, you are not Nicki Minaj. Your sh*t does not, in fact, bang bang.
I've been beating this drum like Dave Grohl on a solo, but Cappie Pondexter is hurt. The left heel is bothering her. She had to go to the locker room with a lower leg issue. She can't take a fadeaway if she can't land on her back foot. She can't move with the kind of quickness needed to defend a ballhandler if her knee is refusing to bend properly. And we saw it happen when Jasmine Thomas blew past her and left her in a heap on the floor. I've been railing at Tina Charles for shutting down, but it's time for the team to shut Cappie down. It's for everyone's good. Kara Braxton got off good shots and couldn't get a lot of them down. She started hot, then got shut down until the fourth quarter. We spent a lot of time shrieking "KARA!" at her stupid moves. Katie Smith is strong. Running into her is not the most brilliant plan in the world, Tiffany Hayes. People who run into Katie Smith tend to bounce. Her defense was better than the last couple of games, but that is damning with faint praise. We thought she might have gotten away with one on the three-pointer that was reviewed and confirmed. Plenette Pierson was solid. She's been fighting through a lot this season. I'm not going to argue with her.
Funniest moment of the night: Kara Braxton attempted to chase a loose ball and ended up leaping over the bench, as so many players do. Instead of climbing over the Dream bench to get back on the court, she ran down the aisle behind the scorer's table, parallel to the action on the court, and ran back onto the court through the gap by the Liberty bench. Smart, in a bizarre kind of way, but bizarre at the same time, and ineffably Kara.
Pregame martial arts display was pretty awesome. Halftime dancers, not so much. Didn't stay for the wheelchair game, because to be honest, I wanted to get out of Newark as soon as possible. Have I mentioned that I'll be glad when this expedition is over? Because I will.