August 22nd, 2009: Minnesota at Connecticut

Connecticut Sun 98, Minnesota Lynx 94

It's a duel of the point guards and the multi-faceted posts, and it's a helluva ride.


This was FUN. Not the result I needed as a Liberty fan, fun nevertheless.

The morning started off on the right foot with the folks at the Starbucks in Flushing. Warmed the cockles of my heart when the guy at the counter recognized my jersey and the girl working with him started chattering about the Sky. So if you're ever by the Flushing library, stop in at the Starbucks across the street. They may be a soulless corporate entity, but they hire good people.

One thing I've always liked about the Lynx is that they make a point of being fan friendly, even in opposing arenas. This was no exception.

The girl who sang the anthem did a pretty good job. One or two sour notes, but she had power and got stronger as she went on.

Good Lord, the kids behind me. On one hand, I want to applaud their enthusiasm for the game and the team. On the other hand, my eardrums are still numb. I hate Kids' Days.

Hollingsworth isn't ready yet. Her calculations need work. A season overseas might do it, but right now it's a matter of misjudging her moves. I actually liked McCants- she seemed to have the right idea and the right instincts. More than I can say for Montañana- damnit, woman, you have a big body, use it against your matchup. If you'd like, after tomorrow, I can repeat it in Spanish, just to make sure it sinks in. Humphrey was ON her game. She hit some shots that had no business going in, contorting her body in ways I've only seen from guards like Hammon and Whalen. And Montgomery put on a show- her block on Phillips was nasty, and her threes were sweet.

Kelly Miller appears to be missing. Her muscles are still pretty impressive, though. The kids behind me were oohing and ahhing. Wiggins felt like she played much less than I expected. She was stealthy. Anosike, except for one or two defensive plays, was a non-factor, hampered as she was by foul calls (on which, more later). Shame. I wanted to see her do well. Houston was doing all right offensively, but defensively, not so much, which pissed off Gillom, and since Humphrey was contributing more, she had the luxury of sitting her down. (I wonder if running them together, with Houston at the 3, might have been effective, but I hope she doesn't think of it before the Liberty game.) Hodges had some looks, but couldn't get them down, or couldn't get the ball. Also, her defensive fail was strong, though that might have had to do with not being certain where she was supposed to be.

Still like Chante Black's offensive rebounds. I nearly typed Chante Block, which would have been more accurate on Friday, but not by much. I could have sworn Holt hit a couple of her shots, but the boxscore says otherwise, so who am I to argue? Kiesha Brown came in just long enough to spell either Phillips, Whalen, or Jekabsone-Zogota. Whitmore didn't even do that, but she looked awful, so I don't blame Thibault for not giving her more run. Phillips was a little spark off the bench.

I don't necessarily like Lindsay Whalen, but she impresses me more every time I see her. Her determination shone through tonight as she fought for rebounds and drove for shots. I was also struck by how much she talks on the floor- not in a trash-talking way, not in a bad way, but in a point guard way. I approve. Gruda didn't start off really well, frustrated by the Lynx bigs, but got into her groove in the second half. Jekabsone-Zogota had the best offensive game I've seen from her- I knew those shots couldn't keep not falling- but her defense leaves something to be desired, not from lack of effort but from overzealousness and over-physicality. Tan White's persistence continued, both in taking the long shots and in hitting the deck. Gardin couldn't hit her shots, but she had a couple of good defensive plays.

Oy, the refereeing. On the other hand, oy, the Connecticut fans who thought everything Minnesota did and nothing Connecticut did was a foul. But, oy, the refereeing. The most inexplicable calls came from Twardarski, or however you spell his name.

Someone had alerted us to the fact that UConn players often sit in section 18, the one over from us. I was looking over there anyway, because Tasha Humphrey was having a very animated gestural conversation with someone (no, it wasn't Plenette Pierson) in that section, and I thought I saw an older couple who looked related to Coach Gillom. And there was a very pretty young woman in a green shirt a couple of rows behind them, and I thought, "She looks a little like Maya Moore, but... naaaaah." And then a quartet of ballers showed up. (You can usually tell a college athlete. There's something big and self-confident in the body language.) I didn't recognize all of them, but I'm pretty sure the big post was Kaili McLaren. The way they cheered on Montgomery and Houston, though, made it very clear that they were Huskies. I thought the funniest thing I was going to see last night was Moore chair-dancing along with the awful cover of "Proud Mary" that the senior dance team was shimmying to. Then the second half started, and ten seconds in, the post I'm presuming is McLaren got up and belted, "WE WANT RENEE!" I hope they come down today, too, just for the LOLs.

It was a very exciting game, and a fun crowd to be around, even if I didn't agree with them or want them to win.