Week in Review... 1-2

(I hate Blogger. Why must I have to reformat EVERYTHING when I add a picture? Anyway, sorry about being late. I guess I'll have to start earlier.)

Watch out...

Chicago 73, New York 66

San Antonio 79, New York 71

New York 76, Connecticut 73

1-2, with our win coming against a team that is 4-7 and a loss coming against a team that we should have been able to beat in wheelchairs. Not the best road trip we've ever gone through.

Without Max, we were sunk from the beginning

Thor led the team with 55 points in 3 games (you figure out the average; you have a calculator on your computer). Nobody else even came close. Those two games (especially against the Sky) we looked like an entirely different team...

Okay, not THAT bad of a team...

Erin Thorn was injured, apparently, although I can't find any information about this. Out for about a month... this is not good. Not that our other guards can't fill in, and not that she wasn't slumping as it was, but we'll see how well the Eight Regulars work when down to Seven.

You know what to do with the bench, Patty

The following players are on Double-Secret Probation...

For un-Dutch-like behavior.

For tardiness: only shows up in the second half.

Inconsistency. You're lucky we don't execute you for those 2 points in 30 minutes.

And now for the Back and Forth!

Pros: The week is over. We have another road trip coming up after these two games, but at least we can rest for the weekend. We broke the skid. Thor is taking charge. Shot percentage is beginning to mellow out. Defense has shown some brightness.

Cons: Two bad losses. Tough schedule over the next three (games against Detroit, two against Indiana, and two against Sacramento, plus a myriad of .500-teams to fill it out). Thorn is hurt. Players looking lost. Still can't win the first quarter. Still can't get the system going quickly enough. Offense has looked anemic at points.

It's a new week in the WNBA, however. Let's take in one game at a time...

GAME PREVIEW

730

Garden

Liberty (7-4) vs. Silver Stars (6-4)

This town ain't big enough for the two of us.

Hammon's return to the Garden, New York needs a victory, This game's got more drama than an episode of Hidden Palms.

OC + Dawson's Creek + Twin's Peak = Trashy, drama-filled goodness

San Antonio has been all over the map this year, losing to Phoenix (twice) and Chicago, but beating New York, Seattle, and Connecticut (back when they were doing well). In truth, there season hasn't been overly impressive, but the fact that they beat the Liberty last week is enough to make me scared.

VERY scared.

Becky Hammon is leading San Antonio with 18+ points a game with a motley crew at her back. Sophia Young and Erin Buescher, at 15.4 and 10.2 ppg (respectively), are doing well, but the team is routinely out-rebounded and fall for stupid fouls. They DO lead the league in steals per game (10.2), however, and are notorious from the free-throw line. Defense is a question mark, as they have allowed their opponents nine times (out of ten) to score more than 70 points (the highest rate of any plus-.500 team except Phoenix), but can coalesce when needed.

That was almost actual reporting there.

New York, on the other hand, is near the bottom of every category in the league except for shooting percentage and steals. However, with eight (now seven) strong players that know how to work their system and move the ball, along with a decent corp of reserves, they manage to pull out wins where they shouldn't (witness the first game against Indiana, in which New York was thoroughly out-played defensively, but managed to get enough breaks to win). As Tom Barrasso once said, "The only stat that matters at the end of the season is in the 'W' column."

Hockey God. Asshole, yes, but Hockey God.

There's a saying golf that you can have three awful shots and one beautiful shot and still make par. The Liberty have taken that to heart, capitalizing on other teams mistakes and moving the ball when needed. They've been through a rough couple of weeks, but if they can remember how they got to 5-0, they'll be fine for the rest of the season. This is a team that is making the playoffs, be sure of that (if only because Washington and Connecticut will take the bottom two spots).

All right, back to the dick and fart jokes...

Depending on if one of my friends comes in from out of town, I might not make it to the game tonight. We might be going to see ANOTHER Moore tonight...

The True Story of the Liberty Medical/Rehabilitation Staff

Keep the ship in order while I'm gone. And make sure to rag on Hammon. I know, I know... she was great for us. But let us not forget that she... she... she's on another team now, and thus, not worth our sympathy...

For Verily, all good things must cometh to an end...eth...

The WNBA has their OWN Game Preview, if you're into that kind of thing. I know my blog may not have solid reporting, a full grasp of the game or even the English language, and suffers from late posts... but at least mine is only INTENTIONALLY funny.

Wait. The WNBA's official site ISN'T a joke.

AROUND THE LEAGUE...

Sun @ Fever

Storm @ Lynx

Mystics @ Comets

Shock @ Mercury

Monarchs @ Sparks

The Fever are so sick on defense, they're making me ill. If it weren't for the Shock, the Fever would be entrenched in the top spot. The Sun, meanwhile, needs to break their slide. Indiana isn't a fun place to do it in, however, and with the Fever's defense tailor-made to stop the kind of swing offense that the Sun (in theory) play, it won't be a fun night.

On par with Ashley Simpson's night on SNL

Fever by 5.

The Lynx are still awful, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It doesn't matter who they play, I will choose them to lose. Augustus is the only reason that Minnesota is anywhere near poor. Without her, the Lynx might as well field a team of Girl Scouts.

Not all in all a bad thing...

Storm by 8.

The battle of the cellar-dwellers. Thankfully, for Houston, they're coming off of their win and going in against a team that has had China-size problems with teams not from Phoenix. Houston has a lot of young talent that is beginning to emerge, while Washington has a single player that can play the game and a whole lot of entourage. Comets by 4.

A team with no defense against the best all-around team in the league? If Phoenix can't get their muscle working into overdrive, this is going be a joke of a game. The Shock almost beat Indiana. Is there any question what they could do against the Mercury? If you're from Arizona, be afraid. Shock by 10.

Smart money is on the Monarchs. They've done well against the Sparks in the past, and are kicking ass at the moment. LA, however, is playing at home and came within 3 points of beating the Monarchs IN Sacramento in their last game. I know I'm going to regret this, but I think LA could pull it together. Sparks by 5.

Some voting returns for the All-Star game are up. Kara Braxton, Cheryl Ford, Tamika Catchings, and Sue Bird are the top vote getters. Shameka Christon is the top Lib, receiving just a shade under 50K. Push her over, ladies. Send Thor to Washington. Bring deceny back to the District.

As my first act in office, I will outlaw Poison-Serpents from leaving the roots of Yggdrasil.

I somehow completely lost this week's essay. I might have time to cobble together something, but if not, I'm afraid you are all going to have to do without this week.

I know, I know... but keep it together for me.

Updates on the weekend if the internet is good. Hope everyone is doing well. If you're at the game and see a tall, bearded guy yelling for Martina Weber to be put in, stop over and say hi. Otherwise...

See ya, Space Cowboy...