Posted by:
Marilyn
I woke this morning remembering a dream. The Stars were playing away and I had forgotten to watch the game. Turning on the TV, I saw the game had just ended and the Stars had beaten the Shock 56-54.
It was the game they are going to play later today . . . will my dream come true?
Becky said after the last game that her team can beat Detroit, but she has not seen her team.
Tina Thompson said clearly on the NBA TV telecast that she had not seen the team she played this year.
Don't look at me. We fans do not where our team is!
As I see it, Detroit has us figured out, but we can't solve Katie Smith and we pass too many times when open - as if we are afraid to shoot. When I am on my feet yelling, "Shoot," then there is a problem. It hurts that we lost two players in the LA series, but Detroit is a tough, tough, team and would give us fits if we were healthy.
I was a Cub fan years ago and had season tickets in 1984 when we reached the playoffs for the first time. We won the first two games at home. No team had lost a championship series after winning the first two games!
But San Diego won the next two in California and we watched in disbelief as they beat us at home to advance to the next round.
So it is possible to win the first two games and lose the next three. But I do not see Detroit as the Cubs.
This year, once again the Cubs made it to the Championship series. Last night they were swept. I do not see the Silver Stars as the Cubs either . . .
So I do not know what will happen today. Will the Silver Stars come roaring back? Or will they press and unravel. And of course our destiny is not in our own hands. Detroit has shown up for every game and today will not be an exception.
Being a baseball fan for so many years (until the last strike) and being such a fervent Cub fan, I learned one thing. You can't wait 'til next year.
Here some photos of fans in the moment.
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I think we have the best fans in the WNBA, but I know we have the best ushers. Here is one of our ushers (on the left) with a Section Leader. The usher is at the game, as is her husband who is an usher, on their day off. They are not the only couple that ushers and attends games when are not working!!
Isn't that great! They usher all kinds of events, but they are Silver Stars fans. Ushers are not allowed to display emotion during the game. But I can tell you that when the season is on the line, they manage to be the best ushers I have seen, always polite, welcoming, helpful and GOOD FANS in spite of the rules! You can't rule the heart
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| The Blues Sisters are school teachers who come to every game dressed like it is the WNBA Finals! They have that Silver Stars spirit mojo going, no matter what the score! |
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Posted by:
Marilyn
Who would I like to see the Silver Stars play in the Finals?
New York, New York.
And I am not picking New York because I think they would be easier. I think we match up very well against them and I love McCarville. Christon and Krayeveld need to be feared as well. The two "E's, Essence and Erlana" can't be overlooked. Don't get me started on Ashley Battle!
The Liberty are well coached and a pleasure to watch. They have a great bench and the team seems to be getting better.
Yes, Detroit won yesterday and Plenette rose from the dead, but I still see them as a team that is hurting and hanging on, where as New York seems to be coming on. Should the Liberty lose today, they will come out of the gates next season the way we did this season. You can tell that entire team thinks they deserve to be in the Finals.
We just went through a brutal, exhilerating series that left two of our players on crutches. I am purist (or rather an old-timer) and I would rather see a series with the game played as New York and San Antonio play it.
Or then again, maybe it is like Apollo Creed saying to Rocky after the fight; " . . . no rematch. . ." Detroit and LA are similar teams, similarly coached. LA just gave us a really exciting series and to give credit to them and their fans, we DON'T want a rematch; and that is what we would get with Detroit.
We have beaten New York every game since we got Becky. That makes the Liberty way more scary to me than Detroit. The Liberty want us.
Becky Hammon said yesterday that she thought our destiny was to play New York. Becky has been right all season ! VJ said it would be "a dream come true."
I am over the moon with our victory and am on a quest to get a gray Western Conference Winner Silver Stars ball cap (they are not on sale!) and a BEAT LA shirt (which I will need next year  .)
My friend Frank who sits behind me in Section 8, said it best.
"We proved today that "team bond" beats the "Big 3."
One of my favorite moments late in the deciding game was watching Hammon muscle past Bobbitt and then seeing the fear on Lisa Leslie's face as she tries to jump in front of Becky who now has the ball uncontested at the top of the key. That is RESPECT!
I will give our veteran, VJ, the last word (although I know she is channeling Coach!)
"Defense wins championships, offence wins games."
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Posted by:
Marilyn
Last Saturday we lost to Sacramento by 17 points!
We were supposed to win all our games, by a margin. I was just certain the Stars would not lose a game in the playoffs!
But we got through that round anyway. Whew! I sure hate to play Sacramento in the playoffs. They are so good and they really match up well against us. It is a pleasure to watch them. They have great fans too!
This was not supposed to happen!
Thursday we lost to LA by 15 points.
We were not even supposed to have close games, let alone losses. No more leaving it to a referee to decide. (See our playoff exit last year. I can't bear to retell it. Suffice it to say, in my mind that game ended with a 100 all tie.)
And now today we have the SECOND game in the Western Conference Finals and we are the team in the hole. . .
We are up in the 3rd quarter by double digits. And then they catch us and it is back and forth.
We go ahead by 1! But there is ten seconds on the clock and then the Spark go ahead by 1 and leave us 1.3 measly seconds to inbound and win the game. This can't be happening.
VJ looks and looks, inbounds to Sophia. I knew it would not be Becky because the Sparks would be looking for Becky to take the ball.
And then her crazy, can't make it, falling away shot - I don't mean a sweet fade but a fall - and the ball hits the backboard, drops, hesitates, I swear reverses direction but WE SCORE and Sophia finishes the shot with a backward summersault.
I have never seen such a shot with the whole season on the line and we had a guy in Chicago named Michael Jordan who had some memorable do or die shots.
I bet they replayed it on the monitor, but I didn't look because how can you film the impossible? We were handing out high fives in the stands and taking our pulses.
My friend Judy had come down to sit next to me and she had her oxygen tank. I was so tense and stressed at the way the game was going with two minutes left that I begged her for oxygen. She said; "No, I am using it all up!" Afterward she said she would bring a bigger tank tomorrow.
Because less than 24 hours later we do it again . . .
And I am concerned about two of our players who left the game on crutches, Helen Darling and Ewidge Lawson-Wade. Helen was in tears. Both had to be helped off to the locker room.
You know you don't see that happen when you play Sacramento. There are just a couple of teams in the league that I hate to play because I know someone on our team could get hurt.
Sophia was jumping like a little kid.
Ann Wauter's said; "Tomorrow we will give everything more than 100%."
She speaks for the fans too.
Erin said with 1.3 on the clock she was thinking, "We can do it!" And she said she thought the same thing with 0.0 on the clock too.
She describes the win as one of the highlights of her career.
Erin had a brutal block on Page late in the game that left everyone open-mouthed.
VJ said, "We played horrible today, a lot of turnovers . .. we didn't rebound. I don't think we played our best basketball, but tomorrow you will see the best from us."
Think on this LA, (Lisa Leslie dismissed our win as "lucky"), Becky missed two free-throws today. What are the odds of you gettting that kind of luck tomorrow? We may be down two players, but we are topped up and overflowing with sprit.
Play Ball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted by:
Marilyn
It is down to two more home games; Connecticut and Sacramento. Neither will be easy, but we have total dominance of the East and playoff home game advantage in our signts.
San Antonio continues their winning streak over the post-Hammon New York Liberty. During Tuesday's game, Becky helped out with 30 points. Since the New York announcer reached back into the past for "charity stripe," (thanks to the computer broadcast I saw the game); I feel comfortable saying Hammon put on a "clinic."
The first half she accepted the double team as a chance to let an open teammate shoot. She was in single digits, but she ended the game with 30 points. It may be her season high, but she has flirted with that figure before. Her season average is about 18 points per game. She was 10 for 10 from the free-throw line and I expect New York fans thought they all came in the last 3 minutes! (Oh yeah, she hit 4 three-point shots too.)
After the game the Liberty said San Antonio used their height to an advantage. It is the first time I have heard that applied to being SHORT!
Continuing my obsession with Janel McCarville's hair . . . I like the look of the week! It is very black and the fauxhawk (thank you Christal & Christia) is modified for a softer look.
I was sorry to see Janel on the bench (recovering from back spasms) but it turned out to be a good thing for the Liberty. They found a great new player on the bench! I may be a Silver Stars fan, but I like close games with good opponents and I love watching a rookie like Erlana Larkin step up to get her season high in everything and give the Liberty a super sub.
San Antonio is now 13-0 against the East and can run the table against Conneticut tonight. Make no mistake, it will be a tough game -- but we really want that home court advanage in the playoffs.
Spooky to see Detroit beat Phoenix Tuesday in a "Through the Looking Glass" version of last year's championship game. With Diana Taurasi having woken up to a new work ethic and Penny Taylor coming back, let's hope that the Mercury get some of San Antonio's draft lottery "luck." We had the misfortune to come in fourth in the draw for "first pick" two years in a row . . .
I was talking with Coach Hughes yesterday at the airport. He said it was unlikely, but statistically possible for every team in the West to be .500 or better. Wow. That would put Kevin to work. Has this happened in any sport?
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When our team arrives at the airport, Section Leaders are there to greet them day or night. On the last regular season trip home, we present each player, coach and staff member with a yellow rose. |
Erin Buescher shows
the feeling is mutual
between players and fans |
After all this IS Texas! |
I wore a Silver Stars jersey to the airport and had it on later when I went to the H.E.B. (grocery chain and loyal Stars sponsor). A car honked at me as I came out. I knew it had to be a friend because people don't honk for any other reason in San Antonio.
It was VJ! Was I surprised! She just wanted to say, "Hi." She doesn't know me, although she may know my face, but she saw I was a fan in a Stars jersey.
Can you see Tony Parker stopping a Spurs fan to say "Howdy?"
I LOVE THE WNBA!!!
The announcers for the Liberty game said VJ might retire from the WNBA after this season. If she is ready to move on to coaching, Vickie Johnson deserves it and she will be great. But if you think we can spare her, take a look at these numbers for the last three games:
| Date |
Opponent |
Result |
MIN |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
OFF |
DEF |
REB |
AST |
STL |
BLK |
TO |
PF |
PTS |
| Sep 09 |
@ NYL |
W 82 - 76 |
33 |
5 - 7 |
1 - 1 |
0 - 0 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
| Sep 07 |
@ CON |
W 85 - 73 |
29 |
3 - 4 |
0 - 0 |
4 - 4 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
| Sep 05 |
vs. LAS |
W 76 - 58 |
28 |
4 - 7 |
0 - 0 |
1 - 1 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
Finally a shout out to faithful fan Angie C who lives in Louisiana and roots for VJ and Sylvia Fowles and all her home girls. Angie planned to make her first WNBA game the recent pasting here of Los Angeles by the Silver Stars (Coach subbed all five players in one time out at the end of the game - remember the Tulane "Posse?"), but Hurricane Gustav intervened and she could not come. Angie only got power back the day before the game.
Even as I write this, the Saturday home game with Sacramento is in question because we could have flooding and dangerous driving conditions here in San Antonio due to Hurricane Ike.
I found out firsthand what a Cat 2 looks like when I was stuck without power in Baton Rouge for five days after helping with the recent pet/people evacuation in New Orleans. As we say in Texas, that was my first AND LAST rodeo . . .
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Edited by Marilyn at 09/11/2008 11:06 AM
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Posted by:
Marilyn
Congratulations to the USA, Australia and Russia. I think the big winner is the WNBA with the medal winning teams chock full of our players.
The announcers during the US vs. Russia game hinted that Maria Stepanova might come to San Antonio to play the rest of the season. YES PLEASE!
She is someone tall who can come off the bench and be aggressive. Well, I would say she is maybe just on the edge as far as being more like Lauren Jackson in her demeanor than the usual Stars/Spurs type player, but I think Stepanova could help in the playoffs. And she can do that dunk thing too. . . (which Parker was thinking about but did not pull off at the end of the US - Australia game.)
Of course Stepanova would be joining her teammates from CSKA Moscow; Hammon, Wauters and Lawson-Wade.
I salute Taylor and Jackson for doing their uttermost to lead Australia to a win. I can't see Aussie players making that sacrifice in the future with the US being so dominant. It looks like Russia is coming on as our main competition, especially with the resources being put into their league.
Changing the topic here. Kevin gave me this idea when he compared some NBA stats to WNBA stats.
We all hear about how the attendance is so poor in the WNBA compared to the NBA. Well I lived in Chicago and I can remember when it was easy to get NBA tickets - for free. I was at a Bulls game way before Michael Jordan and the hottest game in town that night was DePaul vs. Notre Dame. We all sat with those pre-I-Pod, pre-Walkman transistors and cheered out of synch with the game played in front of us.
So I thought I would compare attendance (which is way up this year by the way) in our young league with the NBA at about the same age. Talk about slam dunk! The WNBA averaged almost 2,000 more butts in the seat per game last year, before the Parker bulge, than the NBA did in the 1957-8 season. (I spotted the NBA one year, using their 12th season and the WNBA's 11th, but I think I make my point.)
Considering the competition for our attention is much more rough and tumble than it was in the fifties, I would say we are doing very, very well!
We are not aspiring to be the NBA. We would lose the fan friendly atmosphere and the nurturing attitude that so many WNBA players have toward their youngest fans. (There is no denying that NBA players can only relate to their peers at this point.) The WNBA needs to draw more fans so that it becomes a league that can pay the players and staff more money, allowing them to stay home in the off-season, and allowing them to travel in more comfort.
This is the direction I see our league heading with the new player contract, the exciting new players and the increased fan interest. I am very happy with it!
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Posted by:
Marilyn
I was watching the LA - Detroit game tonight on TV and thought I would do a blog on something that perplexes me, but I didn't expect the game to prove my point.
What I find puzzling is the way WNBA coaches are allowed to criticize the referees. Of course Bill Laimbeer is the master of this, but Michael Cooper is no slouch. After one call, Laimbeer (also known as "sit down Bill") demanded to know who made the call. Then he said the offending referee needed
to change the call. That is pretty high handed.
Setting aside the validity of the call or the quality of our referees, why are WNBA coaches allowed to talk to officials like this? In other leagues publicly questioning an official would get you suspended and fined.
The coaches did not forget to "de-mike" tonight in the heat of the moment. I have seen this over and over and it is deliberate. It may be entertaining, but it delays the game and it adds an element of unfairness and the appearance that berating the officials has some effect.
Tonight I think that led directly to "the brawl" or as this website terms it, "a spirited win."
If you haven't seen the big fight, it was on Sports Center, my local news finally covered the WNBA, and I bet it already gone viral on YouTube. Just use your
Google and then come back.
The announcers said it started with Pierson's hard foul on Parker. After the foul, Lisa Leslie was seen calming Parker, but Parker missed both foul shots badly.
I disagree with the announcers. I think the whole affair, not excusing anyone, goes back to a call the referees changed before the foul. The ball was knocked out of bounds and awarded to Detroit. There was under a minute left. LA led by double digits earlier, but LA was doing their usual fourth quarter giveaway.
Michael Cooper complained, the call was changed and the ball went to LA. From my couch it looked like it should have been Detroit's ball. (I don't like either team, so I am impartial.)
That bad call, which cost Detroit any chance of winning, engendered the bad tempers that set off the fight. That sense of unfairness, not just losing because of a bad call, but because of a call that was changed when a coach complained, set up what followed.
Here is what I saw. Parker's second foul shot hit the backboard so hard, I thought it was deliberate until I rewound the DVR. Parker's teammates were not expecting the rebound, so it was not an intentional miss. Those were two horrible shots and they showed a rattled rookie.
I do not know what went through Pierson' head. Maybe she saw Parker was upset and vulnerable and she hoped to provoke a technical or an ejection. Or maybe Pierson was sore about losing the game to a bad call and decided to let off steam with a tackle. What followed was way more serious than a baseball fight.
The big loser is Rick Mahorn who shoved Lisa Leslie to the court. Rebecca Lobo said it happened in front of her and he was trying to help Lisa away. Clearly the other announcers did not see that, nor did I.
I saw Mahorn push her down. I saw it over and over as will you and no way can I construe it as Majorn escorting Leslie away.
Even Michael Cooper, who volunteered earlier that he did not like Mahorn, came to his defense and said Rick was
helping. I am sorry, but all I saw was a big bully shoving someone smaller. I think he needs to be gone from the WNBA.
Too bad the league is getting this kind of attention. It was a headline grabbing fight, no matter the sport. It will be one of the top stories of the season.
Our players play with passion and when there is a rivalry and someone feels cheated, it can get physical. To put a check on this, you need veterans who try and teach that you keep the peace. I respect Lisa Leslie and Cheryl Ford for doing
that.
You need rookies that will listen. And maybe Parker will not be so hard of hearing after her suspension.
You need a league that will come down hard to protect their players. That means suspending and fining those who fight (which will happen); but it also means suspending and fining coaches who make a public show of treating referees with contempt.
When will that happen?
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Edited by Marilyn at 07/22/2008 11:18 PM
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Edited by Marilyn at 07/23/2008 5:45 PM
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Posted by:
Marilyn
I managed to be out of the country and therby missed the biggest WNBA news of the year. If you think coverage of the WNBA is bad in the states, try finding out the score in Europe.
Candice Parker dunked! Twice! From the news stories, I thought she must have been flying above the rim with her elbows out. So I have to say the dunks were a little disappointing when I saw them, compared to
what I had imagined.
And controversial too! I come home to discussion and news articles and dare I say breast beating over how this is going to change our game . . .
So on the one hand, the WNBA runs an ad with a fan making a fantasy dunk; and on the other hand, some WNBA fans are worried that a player dunked. (Not to mention those crazy columnists who don't like women's sports and jump on any news to be critical -- they hated the dunking!)
Parker's dunks comes with rules, She is only going to do it late in games when LA is winning and on a break away steal. Whew! Am I relieved to hear that. Sounds like our game is safe for now, from what is considered to be one of the most exciting plays in basketball.
I like the dunk. Even when it is against your team, it ramps up the energy from the fans and players on both sides. That is one good reason to dunk when you have the game won, so as not to fire up the opposition. And of course a breakaway is key, fear of rejection stops many a would be dunker.
Anyway, take my dunk poll and let's find out how you feel about SLAM DUNKS.
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Posted by:
Marilyn
I come by my love of the game honestly. Born in the Hoosier state where we had little more than cornfields, soybeans and basketball, I embraced watching the game as something to take me outside of myself.
My mother told me bedtime stories about "sudden death overtime" and "cinderella teams" and "three-fingered McAnally" who took his team to state three times and died tragically young.
Before I was old enough to spell b-a-s-k-e-t-b-a-l-l, I was watching the Indiana high school tourney on TV and cheering for one of the teams. Even at age four I understood that I needed to be "for" one of the teams and my role was cheering for boys, not being cheered.
It would be over 30 years before little girls would be able to watch an Indiana girls tournament on television. My own play was confined to the driveway where I took desultory jump shots and tried to avoid being hit by the rebound. I was not athletic (fatal for a would be player when combined with being really short) and could not have played even if I had worked hard.
At any rate, I hated girl's basketball. We played a half court game because running the length of the court was too strenuous for girls. There were reminders everywhere that boys were better. I tried to limit my exposure to that as best I could, so I sure wasn't going to elect to play a game with rules from a time when women got vapors.
Until the WNBA came to San Antonio, I had never seen women play basketball -- not even at the college level, not even on television. I didn't think I would like the WNBA, because I find the NBA "run and gun" style of play one dimensional; but I had just moved to Texas and was living with a friend who bought season tickets because she wanted to support women in sports and she knew I loved basketball.
By half time of the first game I had gone down and signed us up to be pep leaders for our section of seats.
What a revelation! This was my game! The game I love!
I hesitate to say it reminded me of high school basketball, because if you did not grow up in Indiana when I did, you won't understand what a compliment that is. I am not thinking of the level of play but the style of play. It was a team sport and it took strategy and selflessness. If you had the best player in the state, you still needed to play as a team because everyone else played as a team and five players could beat one.
In the men's college game, which I love, you start to see that break down. At the NBA level, it hardly survives. (The announcers who seem confounded by the Spurs' success are unable to appreciate that they are seeing a team, not five or six individuals who wear the same style jersey.)
In the WNBA, you have star athletes who are amazing to watch, but they are team players. Look no further than our Becky who is getting double-teamed and relishes passing off to an open teammate.
You know, I think my mother would like this game too . . . She is 93 and I bet she has never seen women play basketball.
Next time I go to Indiana, I should take her to a game! Afterall she is the one who taught me that good basketball is a team sport.
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Edited by Marilyn at 07/06/2008 11:03 PM
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Posted by:
Marilyn
What a glorious game it was tonight! VJ was in double digits and hit some key foul shots. As of the last game, VJ now holds the record for most time played in the WNBA, over 11,000 minutes (or as one Section Leader calculated, more than 183 hours or over 7 days of selfless, disciplined, beautiful basketball!)
After being behind the whole game, we won the quarter that counted. Seattle is behind us now for the regular season and we have preserved our perfect record at home.
And if you enjoy the game within a game, you couldn't help but see this as a competition between the two Olympic bound point guards, albeit on different teams. At the end of the game, a defeated Sue Bird signaled for a time out. It was a half-hearted gesture as a game they had in hand at half-time by double digits was now out of reach.
I think Bird ended with slightly over 20 points and Becky had 17. Check the box score, (the post game video is excellent), but in the fourth quarter when Sue was on her rear under their basket at the same time Hammon was making a lay-up at the other end of the floor, well that kind of said it all.
In the strange math of attendance figures, there were 6,500 plus at the AT&T center. That is the same number as two days ago, but this was a larger, rowdier crowd, happily into every play. Of course it was a much better game . . .
After the game, Coach applauded us and blew kisses. Believe me it is mutual! I am sure that he was happy to best his former assistant coach, Brian Agler, as they are good friends and have a mutual admiration society. A win is usually satisfying, but probably more so when you are coaching against someone you respect.
Sophia Young was recently interviewed: "We enjoy playing in front of our fans, because the fans are very, very important . . . maybe it’s psychological. Last season we played really well on the road and really struggled at home, and this season it’s like a reverse. I think every game at home right now is very important to us, because we can’t seem to grab a win on the road. We just have to come and protect our home court."
Well what fun! I even won the "video limbo" competition after a year of trying. I finally mastered it; standing in the aisle and stepping down the stairs at the key moment while waving my star on a stick and hanging on to the stair rail so I would not fall off the Jumbotron. The guy who brought me the prize said it was the best limbo he had seen.
This makes up for not being selected for the Fall Festival limbo dance in junior high. (It was a big deal at the time.) So I wish to announce here that I am retiring from video limbo while I am at the top of my game. I don't want to be one of those people who does not know when to retire. I won an H.E.B. buddy backpack stuffed with goodies that a five year-old I know is going to love. Thanks H.E.B.!
I will be away on vacation through the end of the month and won't be blogging. TOO BAD I am going miss LA's first game here! I trust we will BEAT LA anyway!
Here is a shout out to one of the Seattle owners who took my picture at the game. (I love it when fans follow their team to an away game.) I wished her good luck and I hope the new owners have great success with a franchise the fans loved but the Sonics treated like an appendix . . .
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Posted by:
Marilyn
I am still in therapy after the road loss to Seattle. I will try to put those bleak thoughts aside and talk about two wins I saw at home.
Not surprising they were wins because the Stars have now pulled even, four HOME wins and four ROAD losses. They can't continue like that if we are going to take the trophy at the end.
Shanna's being out for the season with a torn ACL has really hurt us. She is the best pure shooter on the team - by a consensus of players and fans.
Shanna is a Hoosier and she seems a throwback to the Indiana kids I watched in the 60's who didn't miss their free throws because they practiced every afternoon. They spent long lazy summers playing P-I-G (well that's what I played, Shanna probably played E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T.)
Shanna was our perimeter threat.
Tonight we played Indiana. They miss Catchings. Too many teams missing too many players . . .
The first quarter (which we lost by never scoring, well hardly ever) was played under the basket on our end. With no three point offense, the defenders could camp inside. (By the way, the rare three second call was heard tonight!)
The second half, the ball was passed out to Helen repeatedly. I don't think she made any of those shots, but clearly Coach wants her to be an outside threat. Usually you see Coach working on the defense. and our rebounding has not been the best, but I think we could see the wheels turning tonight on his offensive strategy.
Helen has made some three pointers this year, but I doubt if more than one per game. I have been threatening to make a sign: "Mother of 3 Hits 3!" I thought I would would only use it once a game. Let's hope I am wrong!
Becky can hit three's (although the quirky game notes said she did not attempt any against Indiana last year) but her shot was in the deep freeze tonight. I jinxed her in my Section Eight newsletter because I said she would be getting her 3,000th point this evening. Becky only needed four points. She got two. Well, more therapy for me . . .
This was the first time we beat Indiana in San Antonio. That was another arcane game note. I take my fun where I can find it.
What else? The last game was a road loss to the Lynx. There is nothing special about losing to the Lynx these days, everyone is doing it.
Listening on the radio, I heard us get within a point late in the game after trailing by more than 10, for what seemed to be the whole game and maybe even the pre-game. It was grim.
Our getting close inspired the Lynx who dug down to make many unanswered baskets and take the heart out of us or we ran out of gas. Pick your metaphor. I liked it that we came back late from way down.
Ed Jr., who sits to my left at our home games, observed that he listened to the Lynx game and a third of the points were from free-throws. I remember two games like that last year, where the refs saw more action than the players. They were dull games, enlivened only by the agitated booing in the fourth quarter that greeted whistles against either side. When you start booing fouls that are for your team, that is bad. You are probably really bored.
Anyway I checked the box score. The Lynx won 90 - 78. Of the 90 points, 28 were FT points. We had 24 from the charity stripe. (See how old I am to use that jargon? That photo of me is a glam shot, heavily photoshopped. My ex asked who it was. There is always a reason why they are ex . . .)
168 total points, 52 FT points. 31% of the shots were made by players standing very still and then doing their OCD thing. FT% was very good, over 85% for both teams. Exciting!!
I also see that there were 17 lead changes and the game was tied 8 times. Must be something wrong with my radio because I just heard us losing.
Officials were #13 Cameron Inouye , #9 Denise Brooks-Clauser , #58 Josh Tiven. I am not saying they did not do a good job, just that they were busy. The game was 1' 53." I don't know how that compares with the average game.
I leave it to Kevin, a fellow WNBA blogger, to look up the stats on this sort of thing. I hope Kevin reads my blog, because I am always tossing out ideas for him that I am incapable of executing.!
Moving on to new technology, the Stars have text messaging that you can sign up for to "be the first to know." After the last home game, I got the score the next day.
Last week I was texted that Sophia has a blog, but I have been all over our site and can find it nowhere. I hope some more adept user will give me the URL, because So is an entertaining blogger. Most discouraging of all, I have yet to win fabuolus prizes which is really why I subscribed.
I was going to end on a high note blogging about the previous home win, but I see from my notes that "Becky was cold" (although she made it up in the second half to get her 20) and "we miss the Shanna's three pointers." So I already covered that win with my account of tonight's game.
Don't get the idea these two games were not fun. Of course I had a great time, as I do every game, win or lose. I brought some friends tonight who had a fantastic time too.
But after last season, we are playing with a championship in mind, and like Coach, I am not satisfied yet with what I am seeing.
Here is a shout out to Pam from Silver Stars Nation who dropped by Section Eight after the game and said nice things about the blog!
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Edited by Marilyn at 06/12/2008 6:40 AM
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Posted by:
Marilyn
You do not need to have gone through the tough times to appreciate two terrific wins kicking off the home season. But if you did, there is a quiet satisfaction thinking of that wretched season when the team won on the road, but rarely at home and ultimately just stopped winning anywhere. I blocked it out until now.
The Stars got 30 points in the first quarter! I loved projecting the final score. <g>
I am having so much fun watching Helen Darling. At one point in the first half, she was the leading scorer with one more point than So. AND she hit a 3 pointer, just like in the last game. I am going to make a sign for the next home game, "Mother of 3 Hits 3!" The season ticket holder next to me said that Helen had been taking lessons from Hammon. She was taking the ball right down the floor under the arms of everybody and putting it up.
But I think Helen just needed to know that Coach saw her as a starter and she is playing up to that. She also looks more fit this season. It probably helps that she does not play during the off-season, but anyone with triplets is not on vacation.
We had four players in double figures. Better to have four players who each score 12 than 2 players who score 24. Just ask Phoenix.
Of course it was great to see us hanging tough when Seattle started their comeback. They got within 5, but we scored a couple more unanswered and kept a cushion for the rest of the game. I am not saying it wasn't close, but that the Stars had it under control. The fans were very much in the game and we had a good crowd for our unusual 2:30 start.
Coach loves defense and the crowd backs him up cheering the good defensive plays. Two or three times they ran out of clock and that is good defense.
There is a lot of passing and ball movement. It doesn't always work; but it is good to know that Ann Wauters can throw a cross-court pass. We had a lot of shots under the basket where we drove the ball or the ball was passed inside so a player could post up. The Stars look like a team that has played together for months, not a team that hasn't been together for a week. (This is the first game Wauters suited up.)
I heard Sophia Young after the game and she talked about how they are all friends -- some from playing together in Turkey -- and that makes it fun; and it is also why they have gelled so quickly
I love seeing the McDonalds logo on everything. I think the long ESPN contract begat that sort of national sponsorship and it is just what the league needs. It is no coincidence that the opening week's attendance was three times what it was a year ago. All of this goes together and it is not just Parker and Taurasi. I give Donna Orender credit too.
At this game, Lia Sophia Jewelry was a local sponsor. There was a jewelry party afterward with many prizes (disclosure, I won a necklace). Apparently it was such a success for them that they have lined up another game to sponsor. I hope they do this around the league. They collected gently used business clothes for a local group that helps women dress for job interviews. If you donated, then you got a pass to the party. That is where I heard Sophia speak. She was the natural choice for them of course.
When I was an MLS season ticket holder in Chicago, we always bought the sponsor's food for our tailgates and we tried to patronize our sponsors. It is a good practice and now if I meet any sponsors, I thank them. Oddly enough the sponsor I talked with today said she loved everything about the game except that the players don't know how to stand properly for the National Anthem.
She even complained to the Spurs VP, so maybe that will change for the Spurs and the Stars. She had the same take I do, that the players just don't know you place your hand over your heart. They are not being deliberately disrespectful.
I have to say there were quite a few unhappy fans today because there were no handouts with the lineup. This is the second game in a row where the fans had to ask each other who the players were.
I went to complain and was told I could buy a program. That employee must have thought it was a Spurs' game. I don't know about the rest of the league, but the Silver Stars have never had programs.
I do a newsletter for my section each game and I will start printing the players and their numbers on the back. As a section leader, my job is too help create an atmosphere where the fans will want to come back. If something this simple makes a difference, I will do it.
I was at the game, but through the miracle of Tivo, I heard Nancy Lieberman say it was "unfathonamble" that Becky Hammon, runner-up MVP last season, was not on the list of 23 players being considered for the Olympic team.
Then I heard Anne Donovan say Becky was not "a patriotic person." Does she think Hammon needs more motivation? How patriotic is it of the US coach to pick her friends instead of putting together the best possible Olympic team?
My list of US players with dual passports who played on other national sides is now at 12, going back to the 60's. You never heard much about them. As I said, "Guys do it, all the time."
Going back to the last game, when are they going to tee up Taurasi for spitting on the floor? It is always entertaining when Phoenix comes to town. Taurasi is compelling to watch (how else would I catch her spitting?)
Phoenix won't keep losing.
I can't wait to see Parker. And I hope we show LA that those who picked us in the West were justified, even we have lost our best shooter for the season.
Oh, it is fun to be in the West this season!
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Edited by Marilyn at 05/25/2008 12:21 AM
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Posted by:
Marilyn
Our athletes stand straight. Arms at their sides or hands clasped behind their backs in the belief that they are standing respectfully during the national anthem.
They are not, unless they are not U.S. citizens. That is the proper way to stand if you are a foreign national.
There are only two ways to properly honor our flag during the playing of the national anthem.
If you are in military uniform (not any other sort of uniform, like a team uniform), you salute the flag. Everyone else places their right hand over their heart. Men must remove their hats, and many women do also. There is no ambiguity here. It is part of the U.S. Code.
36 U.S.C., Sec. 171
SEC. 6 During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note.
Let me be clear. I am not singling out the WNBA. I am picking on almost every sports team in this country, at every level. For a prominent exception, see below
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Somewhere special . . . |
Business as usual at the other Final Four |
I do not think for a minute that this disrespect is deliberate. The players have not been taught what is proper and that is because their coaches have not been taught either.
I believe this goes back to the time of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights protests. People began to feel ambivalent about how they should react to the Star Spangled Banner. Not wanting to make a statement one way or the other, people would wait in the concourse until the anthem ended. Gradually a lackadaisical attitude took over and people would sit or talk during the anthem at sporting events. I was at many Cub games where people only paid attention when a celebrity was singing.
This started to change at the time of the first Gulf War. I began to see people nudging others to stand or be silent. The tragedy of 9/11 completed that transformation, at least for the fans.
But somehow athletes did not get the message. Exempt from so many things, they are not exempt from this.
Maybe it is because San Antonio is a military town, but everyone in the crowd knows what to do when the colors are displayed. Ushers stand with their hands over their hearts. No one is talking, eating or finding their seat. Even in the concourse, you will see some people standing at attention watching the monitor.
And almost every game, someone will come up to me, because I am a section leader, and ask me why the athletes do not stand properly during the national anthem. I just say I wish they would.
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Edited by Marilyn at 05/01/2008 11:44 PM
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Posted by:
Marilyn
Becky's Olympic Dream
Has anyone worked harder than 5’ 4" Becky Hammon to get where she is today? I think only one third round draft choice has ever made it to the WNBA. (I leave it to Kevin to correct me!)
Becky was not even selected in the draft. Somehow she made it to tryouts with the Liberty where she was pretty much used as a punching bag until the other players caught on. It is no use to push someone down who won’t stay down.
You might say Becky has defined her entire career on not staying down and not asking because the answer was always no. But I believe she made an exception right after the playoffs when she was inexplicably not invited to the US Olympic tryouts.
Becky asked through back channels for a chance to prove she was Olympic material. That must have been humbling for the player who was second in last year's MVP voting.
The answer was no.
(For the sake of our Olympic hopes, we had better hope it was not as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman; "Big mistake. Big. Huge.")
Becky does not take no for an answer or:
• She would not have played for Colorado State
• She would not be in the Colorado State Athletic Hall of Fame
• She would not have played for the WNBA
• She would not be a WNBA All-Star
Some of us try to do things and when we are balked, we take no for an answer. We are the fans. We cheer for those who don’t take no and they inspire us.
So why would we expect Becky Hammon to let the US Olympic coach have the final say on Becky’s Olympic dream? That coach had the final say on a lot of players' Olympic dreams. But those of us who have watched Becky play know she is someone special. She is the kind of player who shoots from beyond the arc and then gets her own rebound. She is just not to be denied. At any level.
Becky may not wear red, white and blue this summer, but she will be at the Olympics, in the Olympic Village with the Olympic athletes from around the world. I might say I would do anything to be in her position, but I really have no idea what that means. Becky knows. She has never been given anything. She has worked for everything she has achieved in basketball.
Becky Hammon recently set the women’s record for most free throws (38) made in a minute.
I think she holds another record too, most times not hearing when she was told NO.
And whatever team she plays for, she is going to be representing every woman who has been told NO, "just because."
So this fan is rooting for her to have the time of her life in Beijing and to bring home a medal. But even if she doesn’t have a medal, she will have the memories. And to think someone tried to deny her that . . . they did not know our Becky!
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Edited by Marilyn at 04/11/2008 7:55 AM
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Posted by:
Marilyn
It is that time of year when the fans of only two teams still have a stake in the playoffs. The fate of their teams is undecided, but it will be glorious. There may be disappointment for one team when the trophy is awarded, but there is no "only" second place. Their fans will come to appreciate that their team won their division and made it to the final round. Second is not the championship, but second is huge because playing for the championship is a great honor.
But what of the fans for the other teams, the teams that did not make the playoffs or did not win their division?
Well, we are saying goodbye and letting go. Even if you think every member of your team is coming back, it will not be the same team next year.
It is very rare that the roster is exactly the same of course. But say they were the same players, even then the team will not be the same. You have injuries, you have players who are now more experienced and you have players that are a year older and have maybe lost a step. And don't forget the intangibles like luck and heart and whatever it is that allows someone to have a career year.
So we say goodbye to our teams that we loved (or perhaps just liked or are maybe even glad to see go!), because unless they are the top two teams, they are not likely to be remembered, except by us.
I need to let go of the 2007 Silver Stars, who I loved and who I wept over because of the way in which their season ended.
- Becky Hammon's career year
- Our stellar rookie Camille Little
- Helen Darling becoming a starter
- Erin Buescher getting better and better and then getting hurt
- Marie Ferdinand-Harris coming back after having her baby
- VJ picking up where she left off with former teammate Becky Hammon
- Chantelle returning after two surgeries
- Sophia Young continuing to develop into an All-Star
- Shanna NEVER missing
- Sandora Irvin's determination
- Kendra Wecker's support from the sidelines
- Ruth Riley giving her "look"
- Our selfless coaching staff
Good-bye . . .
Wait 'til next year!
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Oct 8, 2008 1:58 PM
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OK, I've been blogging here for a while and I think it's time for a new
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Oct 6, 2008 3:43 PM
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So. That's it. Season's officially over now. The Detroit Shock get to
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Oct 5, 2008 1:59 PM
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Oct 1, 2008 6:18 PM
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Easiest picks ever.
Hammon vs Powell
Becky by a
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Sep 30, 2008 11:35 PM
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I never thought there'd actually be two parts to my post-season wrap-up.
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Sep 29, 2008 1:25 PM
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