July 23rd, 2009: Sacramento at New York

Sacramento Monarchs 88, New York Liberty 73

The Game Notes of Doom have a headache from headdesking. Nicole Powell, however, is awesome.

So how was your day? It probably wasn't worse than mine!

Whiz runs a really weird shootaround where most of his young players are either in before the fans are allowed into the building or don't come out at all, while his veterans shoot around the way most teams do. Not great news if you're an autograph seeker who's after young players, though.

The anthem-in-harmony was a good idea in theory, but the practice should have involved two people of roughly equal ability. She wasn't bad- she didn't need a microphone. He wasn't good- he didn't need a microphone. She overwhelmed him in the harmony portions. A mess all around, which really sums up the game experience when you think about it.

I'll say this for Whiz- he's probably a pretty good chess player, which makes him a pretty good coach, even if he's been a crappy GM. He saw matchups that could be exploited and exploited the living fuck out of them. If he'd given himself some players to work with, this team might be better than 5-13.

DeMya, get off the floor. No, seriously, her flopping got really annoying after a while. For a while, she was a very effective double agent for the Liberty, fucking up any possession she could get her hands on, whether it was with a fumble, a foul, a travel, or a ridiculously long hold of the ball that resulted in a shot clock violation. Paris got the start, but her stamina's not to the point it needs to be yet. She had to come out pretty quickly, maybe two or three minutes after she came in each time. I like her instincts, though. She just needs to work on her conditioning. Robinson started, and I wasn't impressed. Ticha still makes things happen, but you know your team's defense is shit when Ticha Penicheiro drives through like a knife through hot butter. I'm not digging the blonde highlights. I know it's a little late now, but would someone please guard Nicole Powell? What frightens me most is that she was working on her interior moves before the game, so she knows the weaknesses in her game and is willing to work on them. Beautiful shot. And she works the boards too. She definitely proved she belonged on the All-Star team.

Lawson was a matchup nightmare. Ate Leilani Mitchell for lunch. So did Chelsea Newton on the defensive end. Harper and Kelly both banged hard, Harper not as effectively as Kelly. Harper's the one who kept getting called for fouls and committing turnovers. Maïga-Ba's learned a few tricks.

My notes are getting shorter because I'm tired, I'm frustrated, and no one for Sacramento was eye-poppingly good other than Powell.

WTF, Janel. All of those turnovers must have happened at once, because I remember concentrated stretches of fail. I think the sheer physicality of the Monarchs posts must have overwhelmed her, since she's evolved into more of a finesse post. Sacramento did a really great job on Shameka, too, unless it was just a matter of our guards not being able to find her, but she just couldn't get space to get open. Loree still has no sense of urgency, which isn't good when she's the point guard that our coach trusts in tight situations. If we're down big in the fourth quarter, this is not the time to stroll the ball up and stand there dithering. At least she's being more aggressive offensively. Essence was defensive fail, and a lot of her offense came when it really was too late. GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT HOLE, people.

Kia played a lot more tha I was used to, in order to bang with Harper and Kelly, and she wasn't bad at it, though I would have liked to see her a little more involved in the offense. Spencer played a lot of minutes on the heels of Chicago, but either Sacramento wasn't letting her get to her spots, or her utility in the Chicago game was unremarked and unremembered, because she wasn't getting the ball, or at least wasn't getting it somewhere where she could make use of it, which makes having her in the game pointless, bcause she can't defend and she can't do much on the floor other than shoot. Leilani, while she was a liability on defense (because Kara Lawson is an Olympian) and on offense (because Chelsea Newton is hell on wheels if you're a tiny ballhandler), seemed more into things than Loree was. Ashley, other than a play here and there, really didn't stand out, except that for the love of God would someone either work on her ballhandling skills or just not let her dribble on a basketball court anymore? Because this is getting painful to watch, especially against a team like Sacramento that likes to fuck with the ballhandler.

I feel like I'm missing something, though that might just be the two hours of my life I spent at that game. I don't know anymore. We gave up a 16-3 run in the fourth quarter, you guys. We are not supposed to be doing this shit.

And enough with the Timeless Torches and fat dancing Christon guy. I'm scarred for life now, thanks. Traumatized. I swear to God.

The guest DJ was cool, but she didn't bleep out curse words, so that feature's going to go out the window soon.

Winning the shuffle game might actually have been the high point of the Garden experience for me. You think I'm joking. I bet you think I'm joking.

The ball cannon was broken again. Proof once more, this team has no balls. They keep giving me the straight line, I'll keep taking it.