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gia · Guest

New York is on 6 days rest.
http://www.nypost.com/sports/liberty/45168.htm

And some scary stats from last season........
Quote: 2001 SEASON SERIES: Liberty, 1-0. On June 21, Becky Hammon scored 21 points as the Liberty set four WNBA records in a 95-70 rout in Phoenix. The Liberty shot 9-for-9 from 3-point range to set a WNBA record for 3s without a miss. New York also set league marks for 3-point percentage (1.000), field goals (39) and assists (32). Its 52 first-half points and 95 total are franchise records.
Gametime is 4:30pm and is on Season Pass (don't forget to turn down the TV sound and turn up the KRay volume - except with Tim is talking ;) ). Unfortunately I'll have to watch the game on tape later tonight so I'm stuck with the MSG announcers :?

mb · Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2002 2:09 pm Post subject:

Kudos to gia and her message board followers. Nice to have one thread per game, rather than a number of threads regarding different aspects of the game. :D

New York is a tall order, esp. on 6 days rest; yet we must get some wins on this road trip. In addition to Gillom and Grubin, others need to score. Even Lisa's 10 won't be enough w/o others scoring or some stellar defense.

Go Mercury!

caune · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1562 Location: Phoenix

Well guys, I have put the curse on New York....I picked 4 of them for my VGM team, which usually leads to very good players sucking big time, so keep your fingers crossed and hope they are shooting bricks

On the merc side, if we could just play some defense and hustle on the boards, the offense will come!

Gaucho_Don · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 223

Good Luck to the Merc! Hopefully the Liberty will be rusty :twisted: Kayte and Kristen should get more playing time!

Gaucho_Don · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 223

Kayte started :!: :!:

Unfortunately she is the only one to score so far (and she had 2 fouls to go with 2 points and 2 boards in roughly 4 minutes)

We're even on boards so far at 4 (but down 6-2 where it counts)

Well at least we're rebounding :) Too bad we are fouling like crazy(it would probably take a miracle to not have at least 2 players foul out) and we can't hold on to the ball :cry: , but we're kicking butt on the boards :!:

The Santa Barbarian · Guest Joined: 08 Jul 2002 Posts: 35

I had really hoped that Kayte had gotten over her foul problems. We saw this constantly at UCSB, when she get's really pumped up she can't keep her hands to herself. As she was clearly the most effective post in the first half, she hurt not only herself, but the rest of the team. UCSB's Coach French commented at one point that he didn't reign her in because he hated to suppress that energy. I think he did her a disservice. I hope the Merc Coaches really emphasize to her that she must maintain control. These aren't rookie mistakes, they are a bad habit. She has so much potential, it would be a shame for her to be held back by a lack of discipline.

Gaucho_Don · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 223

I'm sure I'll jinx Kayte by saying this, but she seemed to do pretty well at playing in foul trouble for long periods of time before fouling out during her last year here.

It will be interesting to see how she does when (if?) she comes in in the second half.

It seemed like she had been doing better at not racking up the fouls so far this year. She hasn't played a ton of minutes, but the only time she had real foul trouble was at the sparks, when she had 5 for a long time.

Ohio Gaucho · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 65 Location: Salem, OH

The result's the same, but it seemed to me that one of kayte's fouls came on a scramble for a loose ball, and one was that designated rookie situation, with Kayte defending against an all-star veteran who gets the benefit of the doubt. Kayte surely must have had some butterflies starting the first time, and in the Garden, but she still had 3 rebounds & a layup in 5 min PT. Her TO came on a bad release pass after a rebound, and 2 pts were scored off of it. :(

Regards,
Bob
UCSB '61

Gaucho_Don · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 223

:cry: :cry: why does it always feel like we could've won :?:

Rebounding was great (for a change) and we brought the shooting percentage up to 49% after shooting miserable early. I guess defense needs some work. For us Gaucho fans, same old story :!: Way too may TO's :!:

Still seems like we could've won :cry:

Now on to the gripes :evil: So what's the substitution pattern :?: 10 minutes, 2 minutes, 8 minutes :?: I was only listening, but I would think the players (Lisa and Jen) were pretty tired by the end.

Ohio Gaucho · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 65 Location: Salem, OH

lost a winable game. I am not sure we had an entire team of five players at one time. Different players step up, but there always seems to be two or more that are rather quiet out there. For those who can watch the games live, your commentary is very much appreciated. A low quality audio stream plus live stats are good to have, but I surely wish there were some TV coverage available.

Go Mercury!
Beat the Mystics!

http://scores.nba.com/games/20020708/PHONYL/wnbaboxscoreprint.html
http://scores.nba.com/games/20020708/PHONYL/PlayByPlayPrint.html

Dunkin' Dan · Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2002 8:15 pm Post subject:

Well looking at the boxscore I have one major question: Do we have any interior defence at all?
Tamika & Tari combining for 51 points at a whopping 77% (20/26) from the field. That's a sure sign that we're still waaay too soft in the post.
These girls need to get some attitude. Bobo suffers from Dydek syndrome - playing in those soft Euro leagues - and Adrain is too delicate as well.
What do we do? Losing to NY sucks
:cry:

gillomfan · Guest Joined: 16 Jun 2002 Posts: 262

The game tonight was on direct tv. I thought the Mercury looked good. Jen was awesome. She played 33 minutes and scored 25 points. Moises played great too. Along with Lisa Harrison. New York had to fight hard to win. Everytime they threatend to put us away we wouldn't let them. I am proud of the Mercury's effort. We played with a lot of heart.

Adrain didn't play well. Notice Kayte started in place of her and did well. I am not impressed with Adrain at all this year. She was in the game in a crucial stretch late and made some costly mistakes. Linda made wholsale changes at that point. The look she gave the players coming out of the game told the whole story. She also gave them a good talking to. I'm sure most of you didn't see that. But had Cooper done it you would be ranting and raving. All coaches yell. All coaches give looks. I find it amusing from whoever does it.

At any rate our girls put up a great effort. We will start rocking again. Go Mercury!

Mat H · Guest Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 168 Location: Glendale AZ

Boy that was tough to swallow. Im guessing we will get the win in Washington. Gillom did all that was in her power to win at the Garden, but she will get another chance because I don't believe she will retire.
Reid and Williams really need to start making better decisions. Reid: If your going to drive to the basket, please shoot the ball. :x Williams, please ask for a sub when the game is close, too many bad decisions. Personally, I would like to see Gillom and Tuvic playing the post during a tight game. Oh how I enjoyed the begining of the season. :oops: Where are all the Shape critics, Cooper got bashed and we were winning. :roll:

Vladimir Taltos · Guest Joined: 15 Jun 2002 Posts: 72

Kayte: 6 minutes...yea, but 3 fouls, ok...
Veal: 8 minutes, 0 fouls? on 2-2 from 3 pt land? 8 minutes? I echo those that have said this earlier...WHAT IS SHARP THINKING?????

Sharp: OFF WITH HER HEAD!

VT

Mat H · Guest Joined: 24 Jun 2002 Posts: 168 Location: Glendale AZ

What did I tell you! Gillom can't retire yet.

Another issue, does anyone think a Mercury player deserves or has a chance of being named to the All-Star team? :?:

Dunkin' Dan · Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2002 3:53 am Post subject:

I think the odds are against a Merc player making the all-star team.
I guess the 3 who might be considered are:

1. Lisa, who has been pretty good without being outstanding. She doesn't play a flashy game or post big enough numbers to get anyone's attention though, so she'll have to settle for being a Phoenix favourite

2. Grubin, who has certainly provided some good scoring at times this season. I think there are too many guards ahead of her though. Assuming Azzi takes Ticha's place alongside Bird, there are still others ahead of her, such as Dixon, Smith, Figgs & Arcain.

3. Jen, who is the best chance IMO. She's having a great season at the scoring end - and let's face it - that's the end that matters when it comes to all-star selection. The selectors just *might* have the good taste to give this retiring champ a spot. I doubt it, but you never know...

Go Jen - You Rock (tm) !

gia · Guest

Jeeez.......I thought this thread was the Kayte report for a minute ;) - It's amazing that she's getting penalized with bench time for 2 fouls. Williams is still making rookie mistakes 3 years in!

gillomfan wrote: The look she gave the players coming out of the game told the whole story. She also gave them a good talking to. I'm sure most of you didn't see that. But had Cooper done it you would be ranting and raving. All coaches yell. All coaches give looks. I find it amusing from whoever does it.
Giving looks and a good talking to is a far cry from screeching and swearing at them. If Cooper had given them more talking to's and less swearing at's maybe the fans wouldn't have rebelled so much.

Jen played great. Harrison was solid. Veal again saw very limited minutes (8). With Grubin having an ineffective scoring night and with Moises and Vealy hitting 3's, then that's the tandem that should have been on the floor, at least for a more extended amount of time.

Maybe it's time to get Quacy Barnes into the lineup to do some enforcing in the middle because 42 points in the paint is a bit much.

Jen is the only one who might/should get an all star spot. Grubin is too inconsistent.

caune · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 1562 Location: Phoenix

Next person who says Jenn Gillom should retire...they're gonna get whacked :twisted: :twisted: Grandmama is a most amazing women, and if she wants to play till shes 40, I'm all for it!

the best line up last night was when Lisa was playing PF, hell, she's more effective then Tuvic has been.
I think the starting line up tonight should be Gillom, Harrison, Reid (she needs minutes to be effective, but if shes not, pull her for Kayte or Jay) Grubin and Veal.
Veal should be the PG at least half the game (all game when shes in shape again), with Pinto and GG backing her and splitting their other time at the 2. Both GG and Pinto can score, so put them in the scorers position flanked by Vealy who can get them the ball.

mb · Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2002 10:58 am Post subject:

Is everyone sitting down? Don't go into shock...mb will now beg Jen not to retire. At the least don't hang up the jersey until you've shown Adrain, Kayte, and Bobo a thing or two. First lesson: one must shoot to score.

Williams had two shots in Orlando and one in New York. Saunders in 11 minutes had as many shots as Williams, Christensen, and Tuvic combined in 29 minutes (they each took only one shot).

Our interior defense is extremely soft. When the wings and gaurds collapse to help, the ball is kicked out for an open three. The posts should at least contribute at one end of the court or the other.

Hopefully Adrain can return to her earlier form, Kayte can control her fouls, and Bobo can regain some confidence. Reid's agressiveness was nice, yet five turnovers hurt.

Why is Veal not getting more minutes? All she did was make all her shots (2 three-pointers) and grab an offensive rebound. She has been productive every game, even with the limited minutes.

Here is mb's short term plan for the team:

Keep Grubin at SG as much as possible.

Drastically increase Veal's minutes.

Increase Kayte's minutes until fouls or turnovers occur.

Kneel and pay homage to Jen Gillom.

Light a fire under the other posts.

Have two a day practices every day at home, and have a shoot around or meeting even on game days and All-Star day. Analyze film of opponents. Break down film of ourselves. Bring in a motivational speaker. Heck, bring in a witch doctor or medicine man if it can help.

Pray, pray, pray some more.

Line-up:

PG: Veal, Moises
SG: Grubin, Bonfiglio
SF: Harrison, Reid, Saunders
PF: Gillom, Williams
C: Christensen, Tuvic

Win or lose, I'll be cheering for my Mercury. Sorry about the harsh words from frustration. It is just that we are capable of better performances.

Gaucho_Don · Guest Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 223

in bold even :!:

mb · Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2002 11:45 am Post subject:

This following post from AZCentral was by a NJ fan who attended the game.
It speaks volumes. Here it is:

Quote: Author: Liz Lindy (Liz)
Date: 07-09-02 9:31 am

Living in NJ, this was the first (and probably only time this season) of seeing the Mercury in action. I was EXTREMELY dissappointed. Here are my thoughts:

Good thoughts first:

Gillom - played really well - hit her shots, and drew a bunch of fouls

Grubin - looked good too - her shooting was off but she definitely looked liked she was running the team, and helped quicken the tempo

Harrison and Reid - worked hard and got some points out of it

Dissappointed thoughts:

Moises- Pinto - horrible!! She had no idea how to run the team. Her defense was horrid - she did get in a few 3 pointers but I don't think that is what she is around to do. She got run over by Hammon and Weatherspoon - and believe me, that is not common these days. Generally Hammon has been playing poorly, and Weatherspoon is 3rd oldest in the league and plays like it. If I were Sharp, I would start playing Veal more - she mad some dumb passes - but I think she has more potential than Moises - it was painful to watch her!

Williams/Christensen - maybe these two will mature with more play but for now they were not even close to being able to play center at a WNBA level. Williams would get the rebounds but then she didn't know what to do with the ball and would inevitably turn it over. Christensen kept fouling.

Overall the team looked disoriented, had weak leadership on the court (with Pinto), and couldn't control the ball. Passes were poor and the Liberty walked all over them. Defense was non existent.

I hope Sharp can turn them around - they need to get their acts together soon!