M's vs. Fever comments (6/7)
- Thread starter 6th
- Start date
Stats indicated a relatively quiet night. I believe she was active on D, but those at the game can give a better assessment.
Nicole had 10 pts, 3 reb, 1 asst, and 2 stls in 34 min with 2 TO. I think she had 4 fouls. I am wondering whether that affected her play, or whether it indicated real agressive play.
Nicole had 10 pts, 3 reb, 1 asst, and 2 stls in 34 min with 2 TO. I think she had 4 fouls. I am wondering whether that affected her play, or whether it indicated real agressive play.
It was not a pretty game to watch in terms of flowing offensive. But the defense was tenacious and thanks to a run late in the first half, the Monarchs were able to distance themselves, and then hold on at the end, thanks in large part to a pair of free-throws by Ticha, then a steal by her on the next possession and then two more free throws to about ice it. She had 15 pts, Yo with a monster 22 and Walker with 12. There were too many unforced turnovers, but I attribute part of that to still getting used to each other. And you're right, Rock, their free-throw percentage was terrible (Ticha being the exception). But ragged game or not...
We're #1!!!
(now there's a phrase we haven't thrown around a lot!)
We're #1!!!
(now there's a phrase we haven't thrown around a lot!)
That was an ugly game indeed at times but a great win nonetheless. Before I go on, I must however comment on the officiating last night. I have seen June Courteau crews before and found them to be some of the most head-scratchingly incompetent trios of officials that usually end up working a game together. Get a game with Courteau and fan favorite Sally Bell and I am beside myself for the entire game. But Courteau and any group she finds herself associated with always is bad. Most of the time I could hardly tell what they were calling and there were times when what they were calling was so egregiously bad that it was embarrassing. They at least were horrible both ways, but it was embarrassing.
Powell could not get into much flow last night because I swear the refs took her out of that game. Most of Brunson’s fouls were legitimate calls so her having four didn’t bother me. But Powell had two of her four fouls called on her for being unfortunate enough to be standing near a Fever player who fell down or lost the ball on her own. The last of such calls nearly pushed me over the edge. Kelly Miller on the other hand, played an awful long time committing fouls on both ends of the floor each time she touched the ball that she should have fouled out of the game in the first half. Finally they clued into the fact that she could not guard anybody or keep the player who was guarding her away from her without pushing off or grabbing so they finally did start calling what she was doing and surprise surprise she did eventually foul out.
Back to the actually basketball game, I continue to be impressed that they have found a way to hang on. They can always work on not being in a situation where they need to hold on, but given the fact that they used to not be able to close out games in which they let teams climb back into I really can’t complain. When this team is on, and is sharing the ball and looking for each other that is some beautiful basketball to watch. Especially when they are running the open floor. I can’t remember who Haynie hit, but she launched a baseball pass from the backcourt and hit Monarch forward who had gotten behind the Fever transition defense. Miao looked much better defensively tonight than she has, she looked a little more comfortable too. The shot she made on a spin move was gorgeous – actually both the shot and the move she put on her defender to clear space were gorgeous. For the first half of the game, Ticha was countering a criticism of her that I had made to someone following the game on Saturday. My patented…”I just wish when Ticha cut back door with the ball in her hand that instead of looking to cross the key to pass off to a wing on the otherside, that she would actually just try to make a layup since teams are going to let her drive the paint” She actually was doing that in the first half and pulling up for jumpers. Then the old Ticha showed up in the 2nd half and I had to go back to appreciating the glimmer of change I saw in the first half.
Ok, I know there were rumblings that Lisa Leslie was hurt and that’s why she was virtually nonexistent on Saturday. What was up with Catchings? I know the Monarchs are playing good defense and all, but was it THAT good? If the defense is that good, that’s a very scary notion. I don’t think I’d ever seen her be that ineffective offensively. She couldn’t even make FTs.
Now that they are starting to see validation of their commitment to their defense and their patience on offense, can you imagine what they will look like as they continue to find ways to get better?
Powell could not get into much flow last night because I swear the refs took her out of that game. Most of Brunson’s fouls were legitimate calls so her having four didn’t bother me. But Powell had two of her four fouls called on her for being unfortunate enough to be standing near a Fever player who fell down or lost the ball on her own. The last of such calls nearly pushed me over the edge. Kelly Miller on the other hand, played an awful long time committing fouls on both ends of the floor each time she touched the ball that she should have fouled out of the game in the first half. Finally they clued into the fact that she could not guard anybody or keep the player who was guarding her away from her without pushing off or grabbing so they finally did start calling what she was doing and surprise surprise she did eventually foul out.
Back to the actually basketball game, I continue to be impressed that they have found a way to hang on. They can always work on not being in a situation where they need to hold on, but given the fact that they used to not be able to close out games in which they let teams climb back into I really can’t complain. When this team is on, and is sharing the ball and looking for each other that is some beautiful basketball to watch. Especially when they are running the open floor. I can’t remember who Haynie hit, but she launched a baseball pass from the backcourt and hit Monarch forward who had gotten behind the Fever transition defense. Miao looked much better defensively tonight than she has, she looked a little more comfortable too. The shot she made on a spin move was gorgeous – actually both the shot and the move she put on her defender to clear space were gorgeous. For the first half of the game, Ticha was countering a criticism of her that I had made to someone following the game on Saturday. My patented…”I just wish when Ticha cut back door with the ball in her hand that instead of looking to cross the key to pass off to a wing on the otherside, that she would actually just try to make a layup since teams are going to let her drive the paint” She actually was doing that in the first half and pulling up for jumpers. Then the old Ticha showed up in the 2nd half and I had to go back to appreciating the glimmer of change I saw in the first half.
Ok, I know there were rumblings that Lisa Leslie was hurt and that’s why she was virtually nonexistent on Saturday. What was up with Catchings? I know the Monarchs are playing good defense and all, but was it THAT good? If the defense is that good, that’s a very scary notion. I don’t think I’d ever seen her be that ineffective offensively. She couldn’t even make FTs.
Now that they are starting to see validation of their commitment to their defense and their patience on offense, can you imagine what they will look like as they continue to find ways to get better?
Catchings...
We got a chance to speak with Tamika before the game.
She mentioned that she felt like she was in a slump and her shot wasn't falling for her. Her numbers don't indicate it but that is what she said while she was signing autographs.
Yeah it certainly wasn't the Sparks game... But this is the type of game I like because the M's showed versitility. They played Defense. Ticha actually dropped 2 jumpers, and attacked the basket. DeMya hit a 3. I am sure she wasn't planning it, it just came in the flow of the game.
The Monarchs played through some sloppiness and grinded out a win. This is a great sign.
We got a chance to speak with Tamika before the game.
She mentioned that she felt like she was in a slump and her shot wasn't falling for her. Her numbers don't indicate it but that is what she said while she was signing autographs.
Yeah it certainly wasn't the Sparks game... But this is the type of game I like because the M's showed versitility. They played Defense. Ticha actually dropped 2 jumpers, and attacked the basket. DeMya hit a 3. I am sure she wasn't planning it, it just came in the flow of the game.
The Monarchs played through some sloppiness and grinded out a win. This is a great sign.
I wish I wrote this a little earlier while the game was fresh in my mind, but the little I do remember is...
- Miao seemed to be out on the floor for a long time. Not saying this is a bad thing, but I just found it interesting that she played that many minutes. Also, I think DeMya has been teaching her how to play defense, once a player picks up their dribble, Miao was up in her face waving her arms just like DeMya.
- I liked every guard combination we put out on the floor. Between Ticha, Chelsea, Miao, Kristen and eventually Kara, I'm comfortable having any two of them in the game, especially our rookie combo of Kristen and Chelsea. They provide good energy, offense, and defense.
-Ebony Hoffman is a big, physical presence. You wouldn't expect her to move as fast as she can, but she was at the top of the press a couple of times and she was pretty effective doing so.
I'm sure there's more I could pull out, but I gotta head off to bed.
- Miao seemed to be out on the floor for a long time. Not saying this is a bad thing, but I just found it interesting that she played that many minutes. Also, I think DeMya has been teaching her how to play defense, once a player picks up their dribble, Miao was up in her face waving her arms just like DeMya.
- I liked every guard combination we put out on the floor. Between Ticha, Chelsea, Miao, Kristen and eventually Kara, I'm comfortable having any two of them in the game, especially our rookie combo of Kristen and Chelsea. They provide good energy, offense, and defense.
-Ebony Hoffman is a big, physical presence. You wouldn't expect her to move as fast as she can, but she was at the top of the press a couple of times and she was pretty effective doing so.
I'm sure there's more I could pull out, but I gotta head off to bed.
Slim, by the "old Ticha" I mean the offensively passive Ticha. The Ticha who looks as tho she more often than not tenative about doing anything with the ball other than passing it. The Ticha who will pass up an open layup to try to squeeze a pass in to somebody else. She came out the gate against Indy the other night looking aggressive and actually driving and penetrating towards the basket and taking shots off those drives as often as she looked to pass to someone. The old Ticha did not fully return however, the one who shot 60 something percent from the FT line has so far not been seen this season and I hope it stays that way. I almost can live without her aggressiveness in the offense (although I do think it will return to being a liability as defenses figure out ways to slow this team down) but if she's going to make her FTs late in the game and not make herself a double whammy liability late in games I'll take it.
Thanks for the Catchings info. I wonder how much Tan White's arrival has done to alter Catchings level of comfort within their offense this season?
Thanks for the Catchings info. I wonder how much Tan White's arrival has done to alter Catchings level of comfort within their offense this season?
Nothing as long as defenses don't take the post players away because they can sag off on Ticha. Definitely not as much if you have other shooters on the floor who can score when Ticha gives them the ball, which we have not had other than Lawson the last couple of seasons. And indeed nothing if Ticha hasn't said she's going to look to be a little bit more aggressive offensively. I'm not asking for her to put up 30pts, or even 20pts per game, I just want her to take the wide open uncontested layup teams are giving her a couple of times a game - just to keep the defenses honest and to settle for a higher percentage shot than the one she is passing out to the wing for or trying to cram into a post player who is being double teamed. If she wants to pass more often than she shoots, I'm cool with that. In fact I'm pretty sure she'd go nuts passing the ball after that because some of the passing lanes will be more open for her. The first half the game she was doing just that. Then she went back to being tentative in the lane.
Haynie has shown she can combine the two and even Newton and Miao have to some respect as well.
Haynie has shown she can combine the two and even Newton and Miao have to some respect as well.