Just the Facts, Ma’am: The Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn held St. Peter’s to under 28% shooting from the floor to come away with a defensive 57-46 win in their home opener. Denisha Petty-Evans led all scorers with 18 points. Talah Hughes put up a double-double for St. Peter’s with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but she was the only Peacock in double figures.
For unrequested fashion critiques, offensive struggles, defensive poise, new friends, making some noise in this joint, and the rough patches, join your intrepid and possibly sick blogger after the jump.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! We must always remember that basketball never stops. I think I have to hold on to that rather harder than usual right now. It’s opening night for the Blackbirds of LIU, as they take on the Peacocks of St. Peter’s. (Should be Peahens.)
The schools really seems to be emphasizing its academic colors in the stands- cheer has pastel blue shirts and the accents on everything seem to be blue.
I like LIU’s new warm-ups shirts, especially with the design on the back.
Coach Del Preore’s three-inch leopard-print heels are a bold choice. (She’s also cuter with kids than I expected, since she was dancing with a kidlet who I guess belongs to one of her assistants.)
At this point, should I just be assuming Paris Jones will never dress?
Band anthem! I always appreciate when the band gets to play the anthem instead of going to a recording.
At halftime, LIU is up 30-28 on St. Peter’s. Drew Winter is showing off her stepback jumper. Talah Hughes of St. Peter’s is having herself a day down low. I think she heard the years of hype and accolades for Sajanna Bethea and decided that this was going to be her year instead
The PA guy can miss me with this “Lady Blackbirds” nonsense. We’re Blackbirds.
Does no one give the PA guy a pronunciation guide? This dude mispronounced Sajanna, and she gave him a double-take like you wouldn’t believe.
I like the gradient effect on the Peacocks’ uniforms.
The tickets got misprinted as being for the NEC championship, and somehow I was the first person checking in at will call to notice this.
Foam fingers! Blue ones! See, I told you LIU was emphasizing the academic colors more. I’m not sure how I feel about this when the team name is the Blackbirds.
I still do not have enough rhythm to keep up with the spirit squad.
Going to LIU games is going to be a lot of fun this year if Denisha Petty-Evans’s family shows up as loud as they did tonight. At least I’m assuming they’re her family; they were loudest when she was announced and when she did things, though they were also pretty enthusiastic for Drew Winter.
Sitting in front of a bunch of St. Peter’s fans was awkward, but survivable. We just had to be louder than they were, and the scratchiness of my throat suggests that we pulled it off.
Can cheer and pep squad please coordinate their chants? I suppose the cacophony has a strategic use, but as a fan, I need to know what I’m supposed to be yelling.
Samantha Meier has a big body, and I get the sense she knows how to use it. I also get the sense that she would like to use it more often. Brianna Tarabocchia was mostly in at the end of quarters. I don’t have any clear recollection of what she did on the floor. Precious Featherson got her time in the second half, unless her substitution in the first half wasn’t announced. She was pretty solid in the paint. Had a good look down low that didn’t go down.
Zoe Pero managed to get called for all the fouls that I thought were on Talah Hughes (seriously, on all three of her second-half fouls, I had the pen poised over Hughes’s foul count, and then I had to dart back down). She showed some range, but she had a tendency to shoot into contact. It did not serve the Peacocks well. (I do have to ask my Noona for some good Greek insults for the next time one of my teams plays them, though. I should get in touch with my roots, after all. Nothing too heinous, just enough to be distracting.) D’Aviyon Magazine got most of the guard minutes off the bench, showing some speed, a nice-looking shot, and perhaps less of an inclination to listen to her coach than is wise in a college freshman. I mean, okay, if Patty Coyle were my coach, I might not be listening either, but that is from my painful experience as a Liberty fan, not any sort of experience as a college athlete.
It is not a good idea to leave Alyssa Velles open for three. St. Peter’s was able to take advantage of some bad defensive switching by LIU to get her looks, and I think we’re fortunate more of them didn’t go down. I think she’s the one who tripped Drew Winter, so I’m not charitably inclined towards her. Daijah Martin had a really nice rebound on a second-half shot where her timing struck me as exceptional. Looking back, I think I should be surprised she didn’t play more; on the other hand, Pero was doing what St. Peter’s needed defensively, and also I should never be surprised at Pat Coyle’s substitution patterns. Sammy Lochner brought speed, but not much else.
Sajanna Bethea had an emphatic block on DeAngelique Waithe, and I keep forgetting that she can, in fact, step out and hit the three occasionally. She was hassled, and occasionally doubled, and couldn’t keep hold of the ball on the baseline. This was not her night. Perhaps having her name messed up during intros messed with her head, or maybe our defense was just that tight. Talah Hughes took advantage of some serious size mismatches to score in the paint and tear down a boatload of offensive rebounds. Such a fantastic game. I think she might just come into her own this year, and while that might be a little later than St. Peter’s might hve been hoping for, it’s still pretty awesome.
Someone needs to get Coach Coyle in touch with Mangina’s tailor. Phyllis’s suit looked spectacular.
I’m not a fan of the rolled-up shorts look that Jeydah Johnson and Destoni Willock are rocking. You do you, but I feel like y’all would be more comfortable if y’all just got shorts that fit right.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Destoni’s ready for primetime yet. It’s her second game, I’m not terribly surprised. Seneca Richards got some good minutes, mostly in the second half, including a big block on Bethea that I wasn’t eexpecting from her (I’m sort of used to Seneca being a three-point specialist). I love the defensive hustle that Ella Vaatanen brought to the floor. Her head wasn’t always in the play (during one sequence it was in fact her shoulder that was in the play, on a deflection she should have been paying more attention to), but she was disruptive, in the best of ways. Tia Montaigne has a ridiculously, gloriously high-arcing shot. I’d like to see it go in a little more often, but I’ll be satisfied just looking at it. She still needs to figure out her spots on the floor, but she’s a freshman, so I can deal with that.
Denisha Petty-Evans ran point well, I thought. She drove the lane and took contact willingly. I don’t know if she and Coach are fully on the same page of the playbook yet, but it’s always a learning experience when you bring in a new point guard. She definitely runs the game faster than Drew Winter does. I’m not saying that as anything against Drew, mind you. Everyone’s got a different style. Denisha drives; Drew’s clearly been working on her crossover and her stepback. Her floater, maybe not so much.
I love DeAngelique Waithe’s defense to itty-bitty pieces. I love how she defends the inbounds like a demented spider. She rebounds like crazy and throws in a wicked blocked shot or two. But goddamn if her offense isn’t a dumpster fire that has been further set on fire sometimes. You’d think no one had ever told her to aim at the square on the backboard when she throws up those putbacks at the rim. I can understand why Coach got frustrated with her so much last year. Stylz Sanders did her some work on the offensive glass, and she and Drew both got stuck with some rough mismatches on the defensive end, dealing with Hughes down low. This is not a good plan, especially as it concerns Drew. Stylz also has trouble finishing at the rim, but I can’t fault her hustle. I really like what Jeydah Johnson has brought to the floor. She’s got a nice three-point shot, but she’s not afraid to throw her weight around down low, either. I’m looking forward to seeing how she develops over the next couple of years.
I love LIU’s team defense. The biggest problem I’m seeing right now is that we can make the first play on defense- the rebound, the block, the deflection, the forced miss- but we can’t always recover to make the second. Our reaction times need to be better. Yes, I realize we’re talking the NEC here, and there are probably reasons why I shouldn’t be expecting them to react as quickly as I’d like. On the other hand, we were playing a MAAC team that historically hasn’t been very good, so I feel like we should at least have been faster on the uptake than they were.
Officiating was very focused on travels in the early part of the game. There was a lot of contact they were letting go. Drew got a forearm to the throat, and play was stopped briefly after DeAngelique was hit in the face. Given the back and forth between DeAngelique and Bethea, I really thought this game was going to end with one or both of them getting a technical- there were a lot of little elbows, shoves, and other such post player shenanigans going on all night.
Despite the usual array of commentary, the GNoD are not a fashion blog. However, I’m going to question Coach Del Preore’s choice of the black sheath for a game day, only because she spends a lot of time stalking the sideline, and it rode up on her more than once. (Yes, Steph, I saw you having to pull the dress back down. I see almost everything.)
LIU may not be very good, but they’re fun to watch. They’ve got the defense down- the end of game press was awesome. The offense is the more difficult part. In other words, the story of my life as a basketball fan.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
November 14th, 2017: St. Peter's at LIU
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
February 29th, 2016: Wagner at LIU
Just the Facts, Ma'am: LIU gave up a 14-point first quarter lead, then came back in the fourth quarter to beat Wagner, 71-66. Shanovia Dove led the Blackbirds with 20 points and 10 rebounds, with Shanice Vaughan adding 13 points and seven assists, and Brianna Farris scoring 11 second-half points to key the comeback. Jasmine Nwajei led Wagner with game-highs of 37 points, eight assists, and five steals.
For walking the Fulton Mall, look-away passes, living up to some of the hype, bad words, free throws not winning shootouts, the learning curve, long shots, and finishing strong, join your intrepid and conclusive blogger after the jump.
One last bit of business, I heard you ask yesterday? Well, LIU might have done their senior day Saturday, but there's one last game to go in the regular season home slate, and that's against the Seahawks of Wagner and the nation's leading scorer, Jasmine Nwajei. I'm actually a little excited to see her and see if there's anything to be said for the hype.
You know, LIU, you could probably clean up the rosters and stuff from the men's game on Saturday. I don't think that's going to be relevant.
Don't tell anyone, but I managed to sneak dinner into the arena. Mmmm, food truck halal combo.
There are signs up from Senior Day, or perhaps still signs up. They're nice.
At halftime, LIU is up 37-31, but that's after being up 23-12 at the quarter break. Jasmine Nwajei has gotten loose a little. She plays at such a different pace from the rest of her team that it's fascinating.
I'm pretty sure Stephanie Oliver is going to throttle Shanovia Dove by the end of the game. Shanovia hit a couple of threes early and now is under the impression that that gives her carte blanche to fire at will. Stephanie does not agree with this assessment of the situation.
Those kids were going hard in the biddy game! And I'm not just saying that because they're sitting in front of me.
Nwajei almost brought Wagner back by herself, but as I have often learned to my despair as a Johnnie and as a Gael, one superlative scorer does not a basketball team make. LIU came up with a couple of big stops down the stretch and hit their free throws.
Jackie Dluhi played briefly in both halves and did nothing of note other than bring a little height to the game. Tanasia Russell threw up more shots than I realized (I think I was mixing her up with Jazmine Hamlet on some plays) and got involved in some of the many loose balls that turned into jump balls. Tessa Wade definitely looked like this was her first time encountering LIU's unique homecourt features- she seemed startled in the early going at the sound of the pep squad behind her. She can shoot a little and hustle a little.
I was really impressed with Sofia Roma's muscle on the glass. She knows what she wants and she's going to make sure she gets it. If she could shoot through contact, she'd be a hell of a player, and she's only a sophomore, so she could learn. Taylor Butigian didn't make a lot of friends out there, pushing people around and hitting shots early. Julia McClure was often in the middle of things, and it felt like a lot of her fouls were being passed round to other players. She hit a three in the second quarter off an exceptionally nice look-away pass from Nwajei.
Jazmine Hamlet put up a nasty block on Shanovia Dove in the first quarter, but was pretty quiet otherwise. She kept busy on defense, though. Jasmine Nwajei is something to watch. She's as good as the numbers say she is- quick shot, super speed, not afraid to go after the ball. She had a couple of nifty steals right off the inbounds to get easy baskets, and she seems to thrive on being the star of the show. She loves her look-away passes. Everything seems to get faster when it runs through her. But she doesn't have nearly as much body control as she thinks she does- she got deked off her line twice during free throws, and she lost the ball far too easily- and her shot is not as automatic as she's convinced it is. I understand if she's being told not to waste energy on rebounding, but I loathe when players stand there and watch their shot as it bounces off the rim and falls into someone else's hands.
Wagner had a fair amount of balance in the early going, but as the game went on, it looked like they were content to watch Nwajei do her thing. And her thing is pretty impressive, but you can't get caught up in that if you're on the floor.
Stylz Sanders had her shot going in all different directions today- she was throwing it up too strong, or with too much English on it, and it was bouncing all around the rim. She made up for it by sneaking in for rebounds on both ends of the floor, jarring balls loose for her team. Brianna Farris catalyzed the comeback after they choked away the big lead- the two threes she hit were huge, she anchored the defense, and she hit her free throws down the stretch. Her shot selection could use some work, but I love the work she puts in.
Ashley Brown does not seem to have gelled with Coach Oliver. I guess when you're a grad student it doesn't matter. She did a little work at the beginning off a nice pass down low from Shanice Vaughan, and a little bit at the end, and mostly sat in the middle. Shanovia Dove hit two threes in the first quarter and seemed happy to settle for taking a lot of shots. Coach was not pleased with that, and as the game went on, I could see her stop, get ready to pop, bring the ball back down, and reset the offense, with the coach's apparent approval. Going in more seemed to help her out. Shanice Vaughan was the boss at passing from the lane to the corner for three. Beautiful play, and they ran it at least three times with different players. I don't know what she said to get that technical, but it must have been one of the seven words, because it came like lightning as soon as Ashley Brown committed her foul. She didn't even have enough time to say anything about the referee's mother!
DeAngelique Waithe was overcompensating on her shots, throwing them up way too hard to get around the big girls from Wagner. She made up for it on defense, with active hands and occasionally feet (we got to see the Dance of Inbounding Denial a couple of times). She's raw, but there's a lot that can be done with her. Jolanna Ford came up with the big boards and some really nifty cuts to the basket. I think they might have been studying film of the Liberty- that extra hot pass right under the basket to confuse the defense is a favorite of Bill Laimbeer's. They both got pushed around a lot and took a lot of contact with very little reward.
They still need to be more disciplined on offense- the end of the first half was a bit of a flustercluck, and Shanice has a tendency to throw up ridiculous shots as soon as someone even starts counting the clock down.
Officiating got tight against LIU in the fourth quarter, though that may as much have been tired players making stupid mistakes. Still, it seems odd that after committing six fouls over the first three quarters combined, we were in the penalty halfway through the fourth quarter (oh, and Wagner had zero fouls for the quarter). Wagner found themselves in the position of having too many fouls to give in the last twenty seconds or so.
Someone (I think the band director) got to experience the awkward feeling of being part of the "Free throws win ballgames!" yell, and then bombing out on the free throw portion of the shooting contest. Pep squad was in hysterics after his first airball.
That was a really good way to end the regular season. You could almost see the steps that Coach Oliver was making to get through to her players, and the steps they were taking to improve. I was starting to wonder if she was the right fit for this school, but I think she's making herself a better fit than I thought she could.