Final score: Storm 84 – Liberty 53 (W) (8-7)

Submitted by Norwester

This was a fun win, though it was a blow-out so early it was kind of underwhelming. Even with LJ clearly off her rhythm scoring-wise (and apologetic about it), overall she was the defensive presence we've come to know and love, and was in there getting rebounds. Betty was in fine form and was on pace for a triple-double, which made up for being so much shorter than her defensive assignments, until she was pulled for her health. Sue was delightfully aggressive early on with her shot, exactly like we need. And Izi was rare form, pretty much hitting anything she put up, driving to the basket, letting fly from beyond the arc. New York has some potent pieces, but while they showed some nifty moves (e.g. when Kraayveld took LJ 1-on-1 and scored over her), they never threatened, and there was the air of being completely outmatched this game. Perhaps when they get some of their other pieces back...

For the Storm, this game also frustrated and worried me. For one: why can't we get this kind of aggressive production from our back-court and small forward positions every game? Can we please get a few of Izi's numerous points spread out among some other games? How would it be if we got that kind of production when LJ was also getting the ball in position and hitting her shots? What if Sue had been that aggressive early in the Houston game? Not to take anything away from Izi's production. It's good that we can find a variety of ways to beat a team. But this is where my worry (for two) comes in: they collapsed on our posts, requiring us to beat them with our outside shooting. Tonight we were hitting shots. But in several of our losses this season, we were not hitting shots, and a dismal loss was the result. We can all vividly picture those sad times. Particularly in this game, when we were ahead by so much, I'd like to see us be able to consistently get it inside against the zone, or at least drive and dish, and take some of the blow-out slack time to practice that in a game situation, not just rely on our ever-inconsistent (from a season perspective) outside shooting. Sure, there was no reason to not keep going to the hot hand in Izi. The way our posts were shut down just worries me for the future. It's a bad pattern that will do us no good if it persists.

Refs were #8, #25 and # 54. Daryl (#8 ) was familiar to me, and associated with not-so-happy feelings, but the other two were pretty much neutral in my mind, which doesn't mean anything. Overall, they didn't affect the outcome of the game in the least. They were letting a lot of contact go all game, and there were bad calls and good calls both ways. What I really couldn't understand was how the New York posts were getting calls, and Lauren Jackson, former League MVP and currently in the running for another, wasn't. We all know Lauren commits fouls, but is she truly the only one out there doing so? Perhaps the officials are keeping an extra eye on LJ. It was mildly frustrating, and Lauren had to visibly refrain from swearing at one point (at the refs), but she did. I guess she'll win that bet if it kills her.

Right away as the game began, rather than settling for outside shots Izi drove to the basket and went to the line, making 2/2 free throws. LJ got clocked in the face and kept messing with a least one tooth the remainder of the game. They subbed Wendy in for her, and she kept protesting that she was fine, her tooth just seemed numb. The trainer responded that that was a problem, and made LJ come sit down and get checked out. Difficult to tell if it was loose or anything. Meanwhile Sue was going off, making a couple of 3s. After Izi's initial drive we were actually shooting a lot of early 3s, but it was really nice to see Sue shooting. She's one person (the other being Katie) that the crowd always audibly reacts positively to when she shoots the ball, whether she makes the shot or not. They love it when she shoots the ball. Of course, making the shot is always nice as well.

As the shot clock was winding down, a heavily-covered Betty shot and made a 3 pointer to the delight of the crowd. The officials huddled together, and we all thought they were deciding whether to count the shot and send Betty to the line, or whether the whistle was before the shot. Everyone was shouting "count it!" Imagine our shock when the refs decided it was an "inadvertent whistle" and not only did they not count the shot, they made the Storm inbound it with 1 second on the shot clock. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that by WNBA definition it is impossible to inbound and shoot the ball in one second. Plus it didn't even seem like one second. Turnover, thanks to the officials. They were vociferously booed for that piece of reffing contortion. NY capitalized by going down and hitting a 3, which just redoubled the booing.

The whole thing seemed to fire the team up, though, leading to a block and some fast breaks that got the crowd up and loud. Then Sue shot, missed, got her own rebound and dished it underneath to Wendy for her 1,000th assist! For now, the youngest to reach that mark (years/days: 26/258, while the next is Ticha at 27/319). The aggressiveness of both Sue and Betty was particularly evident in this stretch, but I think everyone was a little restless waiting for LJ to get the ball in scoring position. New York was being very physical down on the block, and LJ was allowing them to force her outside. Sue's shot just rimmed out at the buzzer, but the team still got a standing ovation to end the quarter. 1Q: 24-16

T came in. And New York began to creep back in it. There were a lot of turnovers during this stretch. I don't know if the credit goes to New York's defense or if our offense just couldn't find the handle. Finally, the crowd was driven to applaud in encouragement with just over 6 minutes remaining, only up 26-24, and LJ drove to the basket and finally scored (right after being called for her 2nd foul on the other end ). My out-of-town guest dubbed McCarville "pushy girl" and was quite vocal about the fouls not being called. She was as pleased as the rest of us (that is to say, not pleased) when they called a jump ball as Lauren shot with Kraayveld hanging off her arm the whole way. The refs' reward: more booing by the crowd. The Mini-Coop races attempted to distract us, but the PA guy was kind enough to remind us out of the time out that it was a jump ball (more scattered boos on that call). On the way down the floor LJ and Betty were talking, then just like clock-work LJ won the tip right to Betty and we scored.

HT: 45-28
The team was really handling New York by half time. Sue hung around a minute to talk to FSN on the air. Despite LJ's scoring drought, the rest of the team was really picking up the slack, and Betty was everywhere like a whirling dervish. It's great to see this amount of energy from her, even though several Liberty players scored right over her. Stats-wise I was most impressed with our rebounding edge. The Microsoft play of the Half was a Betty drive in which she dished it to Wendy underneath for the easy basket. The "Youth for Success" basketball team played a scrimmage for our entertainment.

Out of half time LJ was having a pretty intense conversation with one of the ball girls. What did she want? Gum. She was still clearly worrying that tooth with her tongue too. Who knew a tooth could mess up her shot so much?

Betty opened up the half with a 3, and we were off and rolling. I still can't believe the calls that LJ wasn't getting, versus what she was called on herself. AD spent most of a timeout talking just to LJ, who was visibly embarrassed that her shot wasn't falling (though she was a little too quick to float to the outside, and we weren't getting her touches in the interior). Izi continued to sprint past the competition this quarter, and Ely had some contributions, though again they were most visible once the game was clearly in hand. The game was moving quickly, as the refs mostly swallowed their whistles (except when it came to LJ ...I know, I just can't let it go ). They called her for her 4th, which garnered some anemic booing from the crowd. We didn't agree with it, but the game was so in hand that it was a non-issue that we mostly cared about on principle, and because she was visibly frustrated. 3Q: 68-40

At this point it was expected that the bench would check in at any minute. Wendy had to get her elbow, wrist (and jersey) attended to for blood (Floor: 1, Wendy: 0). LJ, T, JB, Ely and Izi started the 4th. I thought Ely shot a little too quickly when she should be trying to get it into LJ in the middle, but pretty soon Izi and LJ checked out, and Izi received a loud standing ovation. It was 75-46 when all bench went in, and they actually held it together. When Ashley scored on a sweet Katie Gearld's assist there was a half standing ovation in excitement. Sue and LJ were cracking each other up about something on the bench as T went to the line. Wendy got a lot of love from the crowd when she laid herself flat out going after a loose ball to keep it from out of bounds .

It was pretty hilarious how the crowd would freak out whenever Katie had the ball, yelling at her to shoot. This is a consistent thing, but when she scored right out of a timeout, with everyone on their feet for the final minute anyway, the place went crazy. There were scattered yells to put Fluker in, courting that ever-elusive all-roster-spots-scored milestone, but to no avail.

Betty was interview by Alan post-game (after throwing a shirt directly to Mini, who was practically a member of the team, sitting down on the court next to the bench). She said that a win like this is fun, but that they can't not have fun with our support. Even playing injured, she can make it with our support. They are excited as a team to be playing better. Izi was struggling for a couple of games, and some of Betty's assists were nice ones to her, with Betty remarking that she just wanted to get her included, to get her out of her slump. It feels good to get home!

Run-off

StormVision before the game was all about inside the Basketball Camps held by the organization. If I had any young siblings, cousins or children of the proper age who liked basketball, I'd enroll them. It looked like fun.

Alan & Adia Game Breakdown emphasized how insane Lauren has been lately, averaging 30 points over the last three games, with the Storm going 2-1 in that stretch. Of comment was the visible improvement in Betty's game lately as well. In addition our bench is finally showing signs of life.

Jilly's hair was certainly red. Way to commit to charity, Jilly! No Coach Dunn reneging here.

The anthem was performed by Donald Johnson (not of Miami Vice), who has featured on the Jazz music Billboards. It was a little slow, but very good rendition of the anthem on (and there was some discussion/argument about this...but I'm not a musician so I looked it up in Wikipedia) what I believe was a soprano sax...a straight instrument, rather than the curved sax we're all so accustomed to.

Jr. Captains were presented by Sue and LJ, and also Barbara Farris and Loree Moore of the Liberty.

Pacific Medical Injury Report: Martina Weber, Erin Thorn (sprained ankle) for New York, none for the Storm (applause ).

Kraayveld and Ashley Battle received the most applause during intros (of the Liberty).

The Discover Card Free Throw Line shoot-out occurred during the 1st quarter like usual. The guy on our end started slowly, but really hit a rhythm and ended up winning 8-2 or something.

While still on a crowd-high from Sue's milestone, we were treated to FastBreak with Wendy Palmer: Wendy [I couldn't hear her middle name] Palmer, friends call her Wendy or Sug (as in Sugar); God, Family, Me; loves seafood of all types; during the off-season she coaches for VCU; best Christmas present of all time = boom box; advice to other players: play with heart; one word to describe herself = magnetic; also plays volleyball well; Christmas is her favorite holiday because that's when she always gets to see all her family and friends; favorite movie = The Color Purple; if she weren't playing basketball she'd be a history professor

You know, they used to be trying to make the mini-coop races around the arena interesting with the PA guy on the call, and different cars assigned to different sections. Then the PA guy stopped doing the call. And tonight they didn't even assign cars to Sections! Yawn.

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