August 30th, 2009: Chicago at New York

New York Liberty 77, Chicago Sky 63

An all-around solid effort from New York does in the Sky.


Now that's more like it. Well, except for the fourth quarter.

So how bad did Brooke Wyckoff get beat up on Friday that she didn't come to New York? Or is she just allergic to the Big Apple? Fowles didn't make an appearance until the second half. I was all, There were nine Sky players before and now there are ten. Bzuh-wha? I don't mean a playing appearance, I mean I don't think she was on the bench for the first half. Maybe she took a separate flight, or was in the middle of a really good book. I don't know, because I'm not Sylvia Fowles. (I don't look nearly so good in a fedora.)

Though Chicago all came off in a bunch, which is usually trouble, they were very obliging to those who approached them, and that includes Stephanie White. They're good kids.

Because of his work in supporting and protecting Title IX, there was a moment of silence for Senator Kennedy before the music. I'm surprised they didn't bring up his work as a civil rights supporter as well. The rendition of "God Bless America" was strong, if a bit drawn-out, but the anthem that followed it... not so great.

In a right and just world, where everyone has access to every and any sport, Cathrine Kraayeveld would have been a quarterback. She's got some throwing arm. She hits the 100s with t-shirts on a regular basis.

Chicago kept drawing the same play for Erin Thorn- open three in the far corner- and she kept getting the shots, she just couldn't hit them until it was too late. The Sky were really asking her to do a lot as a small forward on both eds of the floor, and she gave it a good try. Also, I would love to know what she was talking about with Janel before the game, because I get the feeling it would have been a good laugh. Sharp wasn't all with it today- solid, not spectacular. Toliver's three at the end of the first I thought for sure was going to be the beginning of the end, and I think that for Coyle's Liberty it would have been. The slide would have started in the second quarter, not the fourth. Miss Toliver has an itchy trigger finger. Sometimes, just because you can shoot doesn't mean you should shoot. Mistie Bass has one very effective over the shoulder hook move, and man, is she ever nasty on the boards. It's nice to see a big woman who uses her size, but at the same time, she has an edge to her, a chip on her shoulder. She also has a truly heinous bleach job, but I'm not gonna say that to her face. I don't wanna die.

Canty was the designated floor hitter tonight, and only half of those were dives. I was surprised she didn't look for her shot more, with Fowles's absence and Perkins's lack of production. Perkins got a few shots off, and usually she hits those, but for some reason, about half the shots she managed to create for herself didn't go in. That's not including the defended ones, that's just the ones where she made space. Dupree stepped it up in the second half and especially the fourth quarter. New York's about the only team she could play center against, and she did so beautifully. How the fuck can anyone leave her open? (No, seriously. There was one inbounds play where she was completely alone under the basket and Thorn found her for a lay-up. >:-|) Young... um, there's no polite way to say it, she sucked like a Hoover today. When she's bad, holy mother of God, is she ever bad. Ely didn't have a bad game- not a good one, to be sure, but she was a good complementary piece.

A nice early spurt from Kia helped keep the game in our hands. She was throwing her weight around out there and hitting shots even with contact. That's a huge leap forward for her, and I hope she keeps it up. Ashley did much the same in the fourth quarter, though she also made some dumb mistakes, and she looked weirdly uncoordinated, even for her, like she didn't know how her body was supposed to move. If Erinfreakingthorn is breaking your ankles, you lose all cred as a defensive specialist, just sayin'. Leilani has to stop being scared of the bigger people, because pretty much everyone is bigger than she is. GO TOWARDS THE HOLE, BUNNY. The referees will pity you and give you free throws. She ran a solid game today, though. Tiffany looked really good. Can't put my finger on how or why, since I don't have a box, but I got the sense that she was always in the right place and doing the right thing. Spencer got extended minutes and did just about bupkus with them. Standing there and watching the ball go out of bounds won't make you any friends. Nor will missing the two threes you take, especially not when I'm trying to defend that as your only area of competence to some real skeptics.

I'm sorry Lark didn't get into the game, but I can understand why. (I wonder if it had anything to do with her schmoozing during shootaround, or if she knew she wasn't going to play and decided to talk to the kidlets instead. *shrug*)

Shameka! <3 You can do anything, can't you? The points were nice, the rebounds useful, but what sticks in my mind is that steal. Coo-ee! For all the times I've yelled at Janel for not bringing it on a given night, she was a trooper today. Still a little too inclined towards the boneheaded shot- remember, Nellie, you only get one of those a game, then the gods of sport think you're being arrogant and strike you down- but she busted ass out there on her bad ankle. I hope Essence is okay- she came up kind of funny after one play, though she might have just been dramatizing it for the sake of getting the call, because sometimes referees need a hint like that. Cathrine on the boards, my goodness! It's like someone whacked her upside the head and reminded her she was a power forward, and whoever did it needs to do it more often. She got great position on the boards, and fought hard for the ones that she couldn't get proper position for. I'd rather have 7 and 13 than 13 and 7 any day. Loree woke up late in the game, though her good hands on defense were evident throughout. As an aside, am I the only one who's ever wondered sometimes if maybe Essence is an android? It really freaks me out how she goes from animated and enthusiastic to that shoulders-squared, head-tilted, politely smiling stance like someone's hit her off switch. Just me? Okay. Sue Wicks has gotten a bit too old, or perhaps just a bit too weathered, to go bare shouldered. Sorry, Sue. You're still awesome, though. Some really odd calls in the game. Loree lowers her shoulder into Canty, Canty hits the floor, and... it's a travel? Also, Nakasone seems to use a different set of signals than the ones I'm used to in the W- is she still using the college signals? I know they sign player numbers and the penalty/bonus differently. Disappointed in the crowd. Not just the size, but a general trend I've been noticing is less gear and less variation in jerseys. Last season, while of course you had mostly Shameka, Loree, Janel, and Essence, you could find a few of anyone else on the team. This season, even last year's Mitchell and Kraayeveld jerseys seem to have gone into storage, and I've seen a grand total of one Vaughn jersey and one Spencer jersey all year. And the old gear is less prevalent than it was last year too. You saw a lot more black and many more #55s, #24s, and #25s in the blue. I know we're on a failboat, but I don't give a fuck, this is still my team. Congrats to occasional Rebkellian AAMCO, Lucky Fan of the Game who gets to go to the Maggie Dixon! We need more of this. I don't know that we can keep it up. But we have to. There's nothing to tank for. The ships have been burned, the pick has been traded.