Train Wreck - Libs lose Two

Oh maaaaaaaaaaaan.

Two losses in three days. Not a great weekend for the Libs, or for me, either. Family trouble, sickness, spending too much money on drink and merriment (I think that all of these things are somehow connected). I would have updated on Saturday, and I will include the post below, but once again, my internet was wonky.

Wonky = ... well, you know

First off, yesterday's game...

Fever 80, Liberty 61

The Libs never had a shot at this game. First quarter is done, and the Libs are down 23-7. At the half? 38-20. It was all down-hill from there.

Benchwarmers unite and transform!

Erin Thorn had a decent game, going for 17 points, 5 steals, and 4 rebounds. She was only 2-9 from the 3-Point line, however, obviously losing some of that mojo from her first outing, where she went 7-10. That was the only real bright spot, as Indiana pretty much dominated every other stat.

Feel the power of the Dark Side!

Rebounds: 42-23. Field Goals: 50%-37.5%. Free-throws: 91.7%-55.6%. The one stat that the Libs won was 3-point percentage. That and the "Awesome City" contest.

New York or Indianapolis? As Spiro T. Agnew said, "No Contest".

Indiana's Tamika Catchings had a good game, as usual, with 14 points and 8 rebounds, but the real stars for the Fever were Whitmore and Sutton-Brown. Both scored 22 points each, while combining for 19 of the Fever's 42 rebounds (6 and 13[!?!], respectively).

Almost literally, on fire

As for the Friday game against Detroit, here is my post as it was supposed to go up, in it's entirety...

Shock 67, Liberty 57

We couldn't go on forever. It wasn't like the Libs were going to go 34-0. Still, to lose it in this fashion feel's like getting shanked in the gut and left for dead in some Moroccan prison.

I know from experience.

It started off okay. Not powerful, but decent. The Liberty were up 19-12 after the first quarter, and things seemed to be going decently, considering that the Shock weren't playing up to their potential.

They were just building up to an explosion.

It begins in the second quarter. Moore couldn't get it going, making only 3 points and then sitting for much of the game. Turnover after missed shot after foul after dissapointment. The Shock finished 21-8 in the quarter, up 33-27 at the half. The Shock had the Libs by the cajones and weren't letting go.

I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

The crowd, which I thought looked bigger than the reported 7.4K, kept a decent amount of noise going through the wretchedness that followed. But it couldn't help our team, and after awhile, the cheering died down until there was a mass exodus with five minutes left.

The Liberty's heart just wasn't in it.

It seemed that every shot just bounced off the rim. The Libs shot 32% from the field through the game (ugh) and 27% in the second half (double-ugh). The Shock are leading by 18.

Send in the Scrubs.

And that's the game. The Shock didn't play particularly well in the second half - just good enough to finish off the Libs. And now they're at the top, and we're half a game behind the Fever. Sucks, man. It's a long season. And being 5-1 is nothing to sneeze at.

Rock on!

GAME NOTES

• Christon scored 18 points for the game, but to be fair, half of those came in the last quarter against the Shock's scrubs.
• Kraayeveld turned over the ball 3 times during crucial moments. Not good.
• Moore turned it over a total of 5 times. Definitely not good.
• For the Shock: Ford with 11 rebounds and 11 points. Nolan with 17 points. Swin Cash with predictable solidness.
• Defense = awful. Offense = anemic.
  

PERSONAL NOTE: The Writer and The Writer's Girlfriend originally went to see the Yankees last night. After paying for the tickets, having an altercation with the security guards because I couldn't take my work-bag into the stadium, paying five bucks to store said bag in a Bowling lane locker, being insulted by multiple Yankee fans (from mild jeering to the TWG being called a "dyke" for wearing a Pirates cap), paying an obscene amount (over 15 dollars) for a pretzel and beer, and then finding that our tickets were as far away from the field without going into orbit, we stayed for an inning, then headed down to MSG for the second half of the Libs' game. Even watching the Liberty lose was better than dealing with that atrocity.

Classy uniforms, classless organization

AROUND THE LEAGUE...

Sun 88, Comets 77
(My pick: Comets)
Fever 74, Mystics 69
(My pick: Fever)
Sparks 90, Lynx 87
(My Pic: Sparks)

Yeah. I really shouldn't bet my gut instincts anymore. The Sun, while down to the Comets at the half, roared back with 32 points in the 3rd. That pretty much encapsulates the game. Sun = Bad-ass. Comets = Chokers.

The Fever, while not overwhelming impressive, did a solid job against the Mystics. Tamika Catchings, once again, carried the offense with 24 points, but DeForge and Whitmore did well, too, but come on. This is Catchings's team.

Seimone Augustus had a career game against the Sparks (28 pts, 11-12 from the field, 4 assists and rebounds), but it was for naught. L.A., led by Taj McWilliams-Franklin (20 pts), really spread the ball around and were able to contain most of the Lynx (save for Augustus). Defense... not so strong, but good enough.

Nixon: Good enough is good enough.

End of transmission. Continuing with your regularly scheduled broadcast...

AROUND THE LEAGUE...

Shock 79, Sun 74.

Can the Shock PLEASE stop hogging all of the awesome? Still undefeated, still rocking the boat. I thought the Sun had a shot to bring a halt to the Shock's discharge, but I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

No joke. Just wrong.

Monarchs at Comets

I am too bummed to make a comment, although I will say that the Comets MUST have SOME gas SOMEWHERE. But I can't vote against the Monarchs at this point. Even coming off a loss, they are just heating up. Monarchs by 8.

And that's all I got. We got a game coming up tomorrow against...

The Washington Mistakes... I mean, Mystics

If we can't stop our skid against the Mystics... no, we are. We are going to beat them. We are going to beat them like a rented mule and that's it. We're only 5-2, still one of the best teams in the league. Just because we lost to the two best teams in the league doesn't mean our season is over. Let's buck up and continue.

Yeah! Liberty Power! Rock on, sistahs!

Liberty Belle post to come in the afternoon. Until then...

See you, Space Cowboy...