August 23rd, 2009: Minnesota at New York

New York Liberty 80, Minnesota Lynx 67

Shameka Christon, Cathrine Kraayeveld, Tiffany Jackson, and the rest of the Liberty serve up some chicken soup for the fan's soul.


Oh, wow, that was fun. We need more games like that, not just for the playoff race, but for the team's and the fans' morale. That second half was a thrill ride, in a good way.

Fun with MSG staff- someone fucked up an assignment somewhere along the line, and after ten minutes of waiting for the gate to lift, the arena staffer at the bottom of the escalator summoned the elevator to get us into the actual arena. Very thoughtful of him, and much appreciated. Missed most of the Lynx because of the delay, but the ones who were still out there were all obliging.

Anthem singer did well until she tried to gussy the rendition up at the end. Keep it simple, keep it classic.

I'm surprised Gillom didn't change up the starting lineup, though it probably wouldn't have done any good.

I hope McCants is okay. That was a rough fall, and what bugged me about it was that her teammates didn't even seem aware that she wasn't there. Either she sucks at staying on her defensive assignment or they're just not the most observant people in the world. I understand why they didn't foul, but I would have fouled. She's got moves. She just can't use them properly. Hollingsworth did better against our posts tha she did against Connecticut's (which makes sense), but you can still see she hasn't adjusted to the speed of the game. I wonder if overthinking is going to be her downfall. Very quiet game from Montgomery. I like her speed- she's a keeper. Humphrey was lighting 'em up in shootaround- she had one shot that successfully dislodged a jammed ball and still went in- but couldn't get started in the game. Combination of defense, really bad shot selection, and bad luck. Montañana played a little bit, but neither yesterday or today would have encouraged me to give her extra run, so I'm not surprised Gillom didn't.

Kelly Miller will always be a fighter and a scrapper, but I don't know what the hell is wrong with her otherwise. I'm used to her being much more effective. Nicky Anosike was damn good against our posts. Houston picked a lot of pockets- I think Gillom drummed the whole "PLAY DEFENSE OR I WILL BENCH YOUR ASS" thing into her head. (Maybe she called Geno?) Hodges also improved her defense from yesterday, with a nasty block on... crap, was it Loree or Leilani? Shooting, not so much. Wiggins tried to win it by herself near the end, but she made the same stupid play today that she made last night, though it mattered less today- down by more than one possession, she drove the lane for two instead of looking for a three. I think she still thinks she's the darling of the Pac-10 and she's going to get a call that will stop the clock. While she's good at drawing contact, and in getting the officials to notice that she's drawn contact, she's not going to get superstar calls at this point in her career. She'll get the benefit of the doubt in a lot of cases, but she won't get ridiculous calls like she used to.

I'll admit that I groaned and grumbled when Erlana checked in late in the first half, because I remembered what happened in the Sun game, and I didn't want to have the momentum come to a crashing halt again. But she must have eaten her Wheaties or taken assiduous notes, or something, because she looked good- she was hitting those shots that she's been missing, she was showing some muscle on the boards, and she was surprisingly useful against Anosike, given the height differential. Ashley scrapped and hustled and stole rebounds like there was no tomorrow, and when Minnesota started considering a little run, she shut 'em up. Leilani didn't hesitate in the lane this time and ran a smooth offense. Kia wasn't great, and for the love of God I wish she'd stop fumbling passes and screwing up easy shots. Tiffany stepped up big in Janel's absence- she came out like gangbusters in the second half.

Speaking of Janel, I hope she's all right. There was talk she tweaked her ankle, but it was her shoulder that looked like it was giving her trouble when she hit the deck. Maybe there was something before, too, because she came out late to warm up, and she didn't play all that well. For all I know, maybe it's the hair- she's all sleek and normal looking now, no more fauxhawk. :( Cathrine had a really great game- she was hitting her threes, she was getting rebounds, she had hands in people's faces, she was making things happen. So was Shameka. When she hit that deep three, I about hit the ceiling with glee. I don't dub this a Meeksiah game- I mean, she only had five rebounds- but she was damn good. Essence appears to be out of favor with Donovan, possibly because she keeps missing easy shots. I'm starting to wonder if she would prefer to start Ashley but can't, either because of the backlash from the Rutgers folks who have show up to more games this season or from within the team. (For that matter, I wonder if Ashley prefers the reserve role, where she can pump everyone up on the bench, then come in with a better idea of what's going on.) Loree wasn't all there offensively, but she did a good job of finding her teammates and kicked ass on defense.

Refereeing was odd, but not "Flames on the side of my face!" bad. Calling an official timeout to get McCants off the floor might have been the proper decision, if at all possible.

The school supplies drive was not the resounding success it could have been among the fans. Apparently giving out cheap purple pens won't make you any new friends among hardcore folks.

They honored Paramus Catholic's girls' team at halftime, AD's alma mater. There was also a dance routine, but the less said about that the better.

The first quarter was a real hot mess for the Liberty. Anosike came out pissed as all hell and kicked the hell out of us. But they ran out of gas, plain and simple. That game in Connecticut made the difference in the second half- Montgomery and Humphrey had shot their wads on Saturday, and the tank was empty.

It felt so good to watch that lead grow. Good for the heart, good for the soul. I like not stressing out over my team.