We have closed on the house. Done deal. My wife and I are no longer homeowners.
Starting on Saturday, I'm off on a one-week vacation. I plan to be back in Atlanta in time for the September 8th game against Phoenix. I don't know how much blogging I'll be doing, but I hope to keep the spreadsheet updated.
As a friend of mine says, "be good!"
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
"Without the sense that God gave a Twitterer"
Ah, Twitter, that double edged sword of social media. The great thing about it is that you can bypass the usual channels and reach people directly. The bad thing about it is that you can bypass the usual channels and reach people directly.
Like other athletes, WNBA players have made some major fumbles with Twitter. In 2011, Angel McCoughtry accused Fenerbahce coach Laslzo Ratgeber of being "racist" on Twitter, and then deleted the offending tweet. That same year Cappie Pondexter made Tweets claiming that God must have meant Japan to be hit by an earthquake and tsunami, since He "makes no mistakes".
McCoughtry later said that she was misunderstood. Pondexter later apologized.
Yesterday, Sophia Young tweeted that she was voting NO on gay marriage in San Antonio. When the WNBA's gay friendly fan base demanded Young to explain herself, she confirmed her initial statement and tweeted a picture of herself holding a "NO" sign.
Young's sign undoubtedly had something to do with the non-discrimination ordinance which is being proposed and debated in the San Antonio city council. The ordinance would expand San Antonio's non-discrimination laws to include gays, veterans, and the disabled. This has the usual wowzers up in arms, with Black and Latino church groups protesting the ordinance. Gonna be a hot time in San Antonio.
If you look at Young's Twitter feed, she doesn't make a lot of tweets. The tweets she does have are about going to church and tweets of Bible verses. Trust me, if you go on Twitter and look at a lot of women's basketball coaches and players, you'll find a lot of Bible verses and general Christian aphorisms. Joel Osteen gets a lot of retweets from some players.
This is what a lot of followers of the WNBA forget - the locker rooms ain't all lesbian and liberal. Oh, there might be a large percentage of lesbian players but I doubt it's a majority. There are a lot of what are derisively called "God-squadders" in athlete locker rooms, too. Think of Tim Tebow, or A. C. Green or Reggie White.
Coaching philosophy tends to lead in a conservative direction anyway. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a respected organization in sports. Many WNBA teams have prayer groups. In short, there is a sizable percentage of active Christians that are a part of the WNBA as well.
So is there going to be a clash in the Silver Stars locker room? Maybe it will all blow over by 2014. Young isn't on the team this season, recovering from an ACL tear in February while playing in China. Even if her teammates still remember what she said, pro players are good at compartmentalizing. You don't have to like the person you're playing with, you don't have to believe what they believe, you just have to keep your mind on basketball and play together.
The Silver Stars are professionals, and that's probably how they'll react. Even if the atmosphere is permanently changed, what goes on in the locker room stays in the locker room. Christian players and lesbian players (*) have learned to get along with each other, although they probably don't take the same cab after the game. One group of players holds Bible Study and the other heads off to Hot Legs.
My prediction is that unless Young pops off with an anti-gay slur in the locker room and gets punched in the head, the Silver Stars will keep it to themselves. Whether anyone asks the players how they feel depends on whether or not any reporter has the guts to do so.
But what people feel about Young outside the locker room is outside her control. The conservative Christians that are Silver Stars fans will probably laud her, but there aren't that many of them - the WNBA's fan base is probably the most liberal fan base of any sport. You don't want to offend your fan base if you can help it, and it will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the months ahead.
______
(*) I do not wish to imply that lesbian players aren't Christians. There are players who I think are bisexual or lesbian that come off as very active Christians. However, there are some Christians - conservative ones, usually - who think that one can't be both gay and Christian.
This is a problem in Christianity - that people these days think less of Christianity as a religious philosophy and more "that bunch of weirdos that hate gays and abortions". This has to do with certain powerful Christian figures allying themselves with the Republican party.
Like other athletes, WNBA players have made some major fumbles with Twitter. In 2011, Angel McCoughtry accused Fenerbahce coach Laslzo Ratgeber of being "racist" on Twitter, and then deleted the offending tweet. That same year Cappie Pondexter made Tweets claiming that God must have meant Japan to be hit by an earthquake and tsunami, since He "makes no mistakes".
McCoughtry later said that she was misunderstood. Pondexter later apologized.
Yesterday, Sophia Young tweeted that she was voting NO on gay marriage in San Antonio. When the WNBA's gay friendly fan base demanded Young to explain herself, she confirmed her initial statement and tweeted a picture of herself holding a "NO" sign.
Young's sign undoubtedly had something to do with the non-discrimination ordinance which is being proposed and debated in the San Antonio city council. The ordinance would expand San Antonio's non-discrimination laws to include gays, veterans, and the disabled. This has the usual wowzers up in arms, with Black and Latino church groups protesting the ordinance. Gonna be a hot time in San Antonio.
If you look at Young's Twitter feed, she doesn't make a lot of tweets. The tweets she does have are about going to church and tweets of Bible verses. Trust me, if you go on Twitter and look at a lot of women's basketball coaches and players, you'll find a lot of Bible verses and general Christian aphorisms. Joel Osteen gets a lot of retweets from some players.
This is what a lot of followers of the WNBA forget - the locker rooms ain't all lesbian and liberal. Oh, there might be a large percentage of lesbian players but I doubt it's a majority. There are a lot of what are derisively called "God-squadders" in athlete locker rooms, too. Think of Tim Tebow, or A. C. Green or Reggie White.
Coaching philosophy tends to lead in a conservative direction anyway. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a respected organization in sports. Many WNBA teams have prayer groups. In short, there is a sizable percentage of active Christians that are a part of the WNBA as well.
So is there going to be a clash in the Silver Stars locker room? Maybe it will all blow over by 2014. Young isn't on the team this season, recovering from an ACL tear in February while playing in China. Even if her teammates still remember what she said, pro players are good at compartmentalizing. You don't have to like the person you're playing with, you don't have to believe what they believe, you just have to keep your mind on basketball and play together.
The Silver Stars are professionals, and that's probably how they'll react. Even if the atmosphere is permanently changed, what goes on in the locker room stays in the locker room. Christian players and lesbian players (*) have learned to get along with each other, although they probably don't take the same cab after the game. One group of players holds Bible Study and the other heads off to Hot Legs.
My prediction is that unless Young pops off with an anti-gay slur in the locker room and gets punched in the head, the Silver Stars will keep it to themselves. Whether anyone asks the players how they feel depends on whether or not any reporter has the guts to do so.
But what people feel about Young outside the locker room is outside her control. The conservative Christians that are Silver Stars fans will probably laud her, but there aren't that many of them - the WNBA's fan base is probably the most liberal fan base of any sport. You don't want to offend your fan base if you can help it, and it will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the months ahead.
______
(*) I do not wish to imply that lesbian players aren't Christians. There are players who I think are bisexual or lesbian that come off as very active Christians. However, there are some Christians - conservative ones, usually - who think that one can't be both gay and Christian.
This is a problem in Christianity - that people these days think less of Christianity as a religious philosophy and more "that bunch of weirdos that hate gays and abortions". This has to do with certain powerful Christian figures allying themselves with the Republican party.
New article up about Washington @ Atlanta
I have a new article posted on Swish Appeal. So go check it out.
I think I had a better set of questions than last time. Almost all of my questions were selected by Dream PR for the set of post-game quotes.
I think I had a better set of questions than last time. Almost all of my questions were selected by Dream PR for the set of post-game quotes.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Basketball from the Right Side of the Brain
I've been thinking of my own difficulties in grasping what I might call the "mental terrain" of basketball.
One problem is that I've never played the game. Frankly, the odds were stacked against me. Neither of my parents cared about sports. I was an only child, so I never had brothers or sisters to play with. I grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians, and even though many great basketball players have come from southeastern Kentucky, the terrain where I grew up was hilly, or rocky, or decidedly not flat - I literally lived at the bottom of a hill.
Sports depended on who you grew up with. There were never enough kids around to have a basketball game. I knew of two hoops, each on the side of a barn. Dribbling would have been virtually impossible, and the hoops were much higher than any regulation height.
So when I got to school, my basketball development was way behind, to the point that basketball was one of those things that you avoided. Instruction at the high school physical education level was virtually non-existent. "Here's a ball. Choose teams, and play." A lot of readers out there have the same story.
This means that I lack all of the elementary experiences of basketball - dribbling, passing, and shooting are foreign languages to me.
But another problem might be how my brain is organized. There's an artificial division in popular culture between being left-brained and being right-brained. (This theory was debunked just this month.) To be "left-brained" is to be rational, a logical calculator. To be "right-brained" is to be creative and intuitive. A mathematician is left-brained, an artist is right-brained. Daria is left-brained, Jane is right-brained.
I believe it's more complex than that. There's a war between those who believe that there is one general factor that reflects the ability to perform cognitive tasks in general and those who believe (Howard Gardner) that there are multiple types of intelligences, such as rhythmic, spacial, linguistic, etc.
I asked an online friend where he thought basketball was on the left/right scale. He believed that basketball was essentially a right-brained sport, much more a creative sport than a logic/critical thinking sport. He related chess to basketball. Even though one thinks of chess as the ultimate rational sport, chess is more about pattern recognition than anything else. Chess players don't memorize every possible position that chess pieces could take on a board - rather, they memorize patterns involving combinations of certain pieces, and recognize those patterns when they naturally occur in a game. They know what to do when a pattern presents itself, and act. My friend states that basketball is basically the same way - you see certain patterns on the court, and great players know what to do when those patterns present themselves.
Furthermore, he said, someone like a computer programmer or mathematician can't "change his/her mind in mid-flight". The rules of mathematics don't allow it. (*) However, basketball players must be able to change their minds almost immediately, and know when one approach must be discarded for a better one. They only have seconds, sometimes even split seconds to do it. A basketball player has an infinite number of approaches to her craft, and is restrained only the rules of movement (dribbling, fouling), space (fouling, court dimension) and time (the shot clock).
Basketball is very resistant to the logical/analytical approach. (*) It doesn't allow itself to be incrementized like baseball, although a lot of statheads like me have tried/are trying to find the "d factor" (defense) somehow hidden in basketball statistics. Stats can tell you a lot about baseball, but less about football, even less about basketball. You have to invent new stats for basketball (like soccer has) to try to find out anything not visible in the box score. (**)
I still have hope that I can get my hands around this game. I remember learning the following in freshman calculus in college: "We say that f(x) is continuous if for every epsilon > 0 there is a delta > 0 such that abs(x - c) < delta implies that abs(f(x)-f(c)) < epsilon". Sound like gobbledygook to you? This is a statement about continuous functions, basically graphs that are "smooth looking". It basically converts something intuitive into something analytical.
Unfortunately, guys like Weierstrass and Cauchy were geniuses, and I ain't one. Then again, I can comfort myself with a quote from John Calipari - "If you want perfection, go to a bowling alley."
___________________
* - Not that basketball players are bad at math. Some basketball players could do math (Quanitra Hollingsworth) with the best of them, but some basketball players are pretty dim. Some chess players (Bobby Fischer) were pretty dim, too, pretty much idiots outside of chess.
** - from pilight on an article at Swish Appeal:
"I’m not a believer in +/-. Bill James, in the 1987 Baseball Abstract, said there are three elements required to make a statistic useful: Importance (which measures how well the stat correlates with winning), Reliability (which measures whether the stat truly reflects a player’s ability), and Comprehensibility (which measures how easily understood the stat is). +/- is a big failure on the Reliability front, in that it’s subject to enormous outside influences beyond the ability of the player to control. The attempts to modify it to lessen the outside influences are simply trading Importance and/or Comprehensibility for Reliability. That doesn’t make a better stat, just one that’s bad in a different way."
One problem is that I've never played the game. Frankly, the odds were stacked against me. Neither of my parents cared about sports. I was an only child, so I never had brothers or sisters to play with. I grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians, and even though many great basketball players have come from southeastern Kentucky, the terrain where I grew up was hilly, or rocky, or decidedly not flat - I literally lived at the bottom of a hill.
Sports depended on who you grew up with. There were never enough kids around to have a basketball game. I knew of two hoops, each on the side of a barn. Dribbling would have been virtually impossible, and the hoops were much higher than any regulation height.
So when I got to school, my basketball development was way behind, to the point that basketball was one of those things that you avoided. Instruction at the high school physical education level was virtually non-existent. "Here's a ball. Choose teams, and play." A lot of readers out there have the same story.
This means that I lack all of the elementary experiences of basketball - dribbling, passing, and shooting are foreign languages to me.
But another problem might be how my brain is organized. There's an artificial division in popular culture between being left-brained and being right-brained. (This theory was debunked just this month.) To be "left-brained" is to be rational, a logical calculator. To be "right-brained" is to be creative and intuitive. A mathematician is left-brained, an artist is right-brained. Daria is left-brained, Jane is right-brained.
I believe it's more complex than that. There's a war between those who believe that there is one general factor that reflects the ability to perform cognitive tasks in general and those who believe (Howard Gardner) that there are multiple types of intelligences, such as rhythmic, spacial, linguistic, etc.
I asked an online friend where he thought basketball was on the left/right scale. He believed that basketball was essentially a right-brained sport, much more a creative sport than a logic/critical thinking sport. He related chess to basketball. Even though one thinks of chess as the ultimate rational sport, chess is more about pattern recognition than anything else. Chess players don't memorize every possible position that chess pieces could take on a board - rather, they memorize patterns involving combinations of certain pieces, and recognize those patterns when they naturally occur in a game. They know what to do when a pattern presents itself, and act. My friend states that basketball is basically the same way - you see certain patterns on the court, and great players know what to do when those patterns present themselves.
Furthermore, he said, someone like a computer programmer or mathematician can't "change his/her mind in mid-flight". The rules of mathematics don't allow it. (*) However, basketball players must be able to change their minds almost immediately, and know when one approach must be discarded for a better one. They only have seconds, sometimes even split seconds to do it. A basketball player has an infinite number of approaches to her craft, and is restrained only the rules of movement (dribbling, fouling), space (fouling, court dimension) and time (the shot clock).
Basketball is very resistant to the logical/analytical approach. (*) It doesn't allow itself to be incrementized like baseball, although a lot of statheads like me have tried/are trying to find the "d factor" (defense) somehow hidden in basketball statistics. Stats can tell you a lot about baseball, but less about football, even less about basketball. You have to invent new stats for basketball (like soccer has) to try to find out anything not visible in the box score. (**)
I still have hope that I can get my hands around this game. I remember learning the following in freshman calculus in college: "We say that f(x) is continuous if for every epsilon > 0 there is a delta > 0 such that abs(x - c) < delta implies that abs(f(x)-f(c)) < epsilon". Sound like gobbledygook to you? This is a statement about continuous functions, basically graphs that are "smooth looking". It basically converts something intuitive into something analytical.
Unfortunately, guys like Weierstrass and Cauchy were geniuses, and I ain't one. Then again, I can comfort myself with a quote from John Calipari - "If you want perfection, go to a bowling alley."
___________________
* - Not that basketball players are bad at math. Some basketball players could do math (Quanitra Hollingsworth) with the best of them, but some basketball players are pretty dim. Some chess players (Bobby Fischer) were pretty dim, too, pretty much idiots outside of chess.
** - from pilight on an article at Swish Appeal:
"I’m not a believer in +/-. Bill James, in the 1987 Baseball Abstract, said there are three elements required to make a statistic useful: Importance (which measures how well the stat correlates with winning), Reliability (which measures whether the stat truly reflects a player’s ability), and Comprehensibility (which measures how easily understood the stat is). +/- is a big failure on the Reliability front, in that it’s subject to enormous outside influences beyond the ability of the player to control. The attempts to modify it to lessen the outside influences are simply trading Importance and/or Comprehensibility for Reliability. That doesn’t make a better stat, just one that’s bad in a different way."
Monday, August 26, 2013
Chicago @ Atlanta; Tulsa @ Los Angeles
Attended the Chicago @ Atlanta game. This was a "big game" - the two teams were #1 and #2 in the Eastern Conference respectively - and the crowd was actually decent. It wasn't like one of the crowds Atlanta would have had in Year 1, but the pink pompoms made a fine showing on television. We actually had four people up on Media Row for this one, and probably the AP guy down near courtside.
I wrote this game up. This was a low shooting game but very, very suspenseful, tight almost all the way. Elena Delle Donne? The real deal. She was in the zone, she's one of those players who can shoot anywhere from the court. I overheard two male fans walking by - not your typical-looking fans, either, young men - who were impressed by Delle Donne and wondering how Atlanta was going to "lock her down".
McCoughtry was trying to get her team involved, but every pass she threw had too much mustard on it. One practically knocked Erika de Souza's fingers out of the way; I wonder how anyone could have caught it. I suppose at some point McCoughtry must have thought "it's up to me now" and began shooting away.
She scored 20 points, but when you're shooting 6-for-26 - less than 25 percent - other teams will be glad to let you get your twenty. It was practically a one man show out there and with Hayes held out of the game due to knee soreness it proved how lacking Atlanta is compared to Chicago. Lyttle and Hayes leave a massive hole in Atlanta's game that can't be filled with spare parts like Willingham or Clements.
Not that those spare parts didn't try. The third quarter was great, with Atlanta closing it down to two points, I believe. Despite shooting like the middle school backup girls team, this game was never really out of reach for Atlanta. I felt sad for the Dream that they lost it and hope that Washington on Wednesday night will be a different story.
(* * *)
I got the chance to talk to three people. I went into the Chicago locker room and had a chance to talk to Fowles. I don't think I asked her anything worth asking, though, and should probably have just left after the other questioner stopped talking.
When I listen to myself on tape, I never want to stutter so my questions are always word salad, fifty to one hundred word excursions with a point buried somewhere on the side of the road. It's acutely painful. It might not be a matter of asking better questions, but of asking questions better. Keep it down to 20 words or less. Put the point in the front of the question.
Fred Williams was gracious as always. I also spoke to Pokey Chatman. I like Chatman, she will give you more than just a couple of sentences, willing to outline a little of her thought process. Furthermore, she mumbles a little bit, but I like that because it means that I'm not the only one who's a bit verbally challenged. (I'm also surprised at how relatively short she is compared to other coaches and players I've talked to.)
But still! Listening to myself on tape is horrible! I'll get a few more chances to practice my interview technique - just a couple of more games I'll have a chance to attend, one against Washington and the game on the eighth against Phoenix.
My friend asked Fred offhandedly how many games the team has won without Tiffany Hayes. (I like that Fred said that he wasn't going to destroy a player's career to win a game by playing her injured.) I later looked it up. The answer is one. Atlanta is 1-7 without Tiffany Hayes. Most of those games, however, were without Sancho Lyttle, too, so if Hayes is the spark then Lyttle might be a can of gasoline.
(* * *)
Last night, I topped off the weekend with Tulsa at Los Angeles. Didn't pay much attention to it until the exciting fourth quarter comeback and then the two overtimes. Coach Klopp's team still can't close out a game; he's 0-7 in games decided by five points or less.
Scary moment. Ogwumike made a shot and Candace Parker came over to embrace her. Their heads collided and Ogwumike suffered a cut above her eye. Nothing really serious, but a lot of blood.
The Sparks pulled it out in overtime #2. People might ask why I like the WNBA; I can point to that Tulsa/Los Angeles game for the answer.
(* * *)
We were supposed to close on selling the house this afternoon. The realtor for the buyer did a walk-through on Sunday; I suspect if there was something wrong I would have heard it.
The time to meet at the lawyer's office was at 1 pm. At noon, I get an e-mail from Ruth. "Her condo-deal got messed up," was the reason for the postponement. Our hope is that Wednesday will be the big day.
I wrote this game up. This was a low shooting game but very, very suspenseful, tight almost all the way. Elena Delle Donne? The real deal. She was in the zone, she's one of those players who can shoot anywhere from the court. I overheard two male fans walking by - not your typical-looking fans, either, young men - who were impressed by Delle Donne and wondering how Atlanta was going to "lock her down".
McCoughtry was trying to get her team involved, but every pass she threw had too much mustard on it. One practically knocked Erika de Souza's fingers out of the way; I wonder how anyone could have caught it. I suppose at some point McCoughtry must have thought "it's up to me now" and began shooting away.
She scored 20 points, but when you're shooting 6-for-26 - less than 25 percent - other teams will be glad to let you get your twenty. It was practically a one man show out there and with Hayes held out of the game due to knee soreness it proved how lacking Atlanta is compared to Chicago. Lyttle and Hayes leave a massive hole in Atlanta's game that can't be filled with spare parts like Willingham or Clements.
Not that those spare parts didn't try. The third quarter was great, with Atlanta closing it down to two points, I believe. Despite shooting like the middle school backup girls team, this game was never really out of reach for Atlanta. I felt sad for the Dream that they lost it and hope that Washington on Wednesday night will be a different story.
(* * *)
I got the chance to talk to three people. I went into the Chicago locker room and had a chance to talk to Fowles. I don't think I asked her anything worth asking, though, and should probably have just left after the other questioner stopped talking.
When I listen to myself on tape, I never want to stutter so my questions are always word salad, fifty to one hundred word excursions with a point buried somewhere on the side of the road. It's acutely painful. It might not be a matter of asking better questions, but of asking questions better. Keep it down to 20 words or less. Put the point in the front of the question.
Fred Williams was gracious as always. I also spoke to Pokey Chatman. I like Chatman, she will give you more than just a couple of sentences, willing to outline a little of her thought process. Furthermore, she mumbles a little bit, but I like that because it means that I'm not the only one who's a bit verbally challenged. (I'm also surprised at how relatively short she is compared to other coaches and players I've talked to.)
But still! Listening to myself on tape is horrible! I'll get a few more chances to practice my interview technique - just a couple of more games I'll have a chance to attend, one against Washington and the game on the eighth against Phoenix.
My friend asked Fred offhandedly how many games the team has won without Tiffany Hayes. (I like that Fred said that he wasn't going to destroy a player's career to win a game by playing her injured.) I later looked it up. The answer is one. Atlanta is 1-7 without Tiffany Hayes. Most of those games, however, were without Sancho Lyttle, too, so if Hayes is the spark then Lyttle might be a can of gasoline.
(* * *)
Last night, I topped off the weekend with Tulsa at Los Angeles. Didn't pay much attention to it until the exciting fourth quarter comeback and then the two overtimes. Coach Klopp's team still can't close out a game; he's 0-7 in games decided by five points or less.
Scary moment. Ogwumike made a shot and Candace Parker came over to embrace her. Their heads collided and Ogwumike suffered a cut above her eye. Nothing really serious, but a lot of blood.
The Sparks pulled it out in overtime #2. People might ask why I like the WNBA; I can point to that Tulsa/Los Angeles game for the answer.
(* * *)
We were supposed to close on selling the house this afternoon. The realtor for the buyer did a walk-through on Sunday; I suspect if there was something wrong I would have heard it.
The time to meet at the lawyer's office was at 1 pm. At noon, I get an e-mail from Ruth. "Her condo-deal got messed up," was the reason for the postponement. Our hope is that Wednesday will be the big day.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Atlanta @ Washington; Seattle @ Phoenix
Saw parts of two games last night. The first was Atlanta vs. Washington. I'm sure it was a great game, but I only saw two quarters of it - the first and the last.
Everyone knocks on WNBA Live Access and I can't figure out why for the life of me. People have a way of watching any WNBA game and they want to complain about it. Anyway, I was out eating with my wife until 8 pm and I came back to watch the first quarter, which is great as Live Access starts all games (even live ones) from the first quarter - if I wanted to see the game live, I'd just press the LIVE button.
I watched the first quarter, where the Mystics led 21-17 at the end of 10 minutes. Every time there was a time out or a commercial, I'd skip forward. But a lot of time when I skipped forward, Live Access would balk. It kept balking, and finally, Firebox locked up and I had to crash the browser. When I came back, I gave up and watched it live, where a big run by Washington raining down three pointers closed the door on Atlanta.
Mike Thibault said something interesting after the game. He said his goal was to turn Angel McCoughtry into a passer. McCoughtry had 8 assists and 5 TO but she shot 6-for-20. Tiffany Hayes didn't do much better, 3-for-13. If I were Chicago or Indiana I might want to watch this game.
Part of Atlanta's problem was its 1-for-18 performance behind the line. She hit one with 22 seconds left to keep the Dream from having a goose egg. If that shot had missed, it would have been the worst performance at the 3-point line by a team this season. Two teams have gone 0-for-17 in a game behind the arc - the first was on June 7th when Seattle hosted Tulsa and went 0-for-17. The second was on July 21st when Atlanta visited Tulsa and also went 0-for-17. Atlanta is shooting 25.2 percent behind the arc, far worse than any other team (Phoenix is second at 29.5 percent).
The other game was Seattle at Phoenix. Good game, but I began to fall asleep at 10:40 am. So I went to bed.
I finally have enough items unpacked in the computer room to make it workable. This might be the only room of the new apartment that's 95 percent done. However, I need my computer room.
Everyone knocks on WNBA Live Access and I can't figure out why for the life of me. People have a way of watching any WNBA game and they want to complain about it. Anyway, I was out eating with my wife until 8 pm and I came back to watch the first quarter, which is great as Live Access starts all games (even live ones) from the first quarter - if I wanted to see the game live, I'd just press the LIVE button.
I watched the first quarter, where the Mystics led 21-17 at the end of 10 minutes. Every time there was a time out or a commercial, I'd skip forward. But a lot of time when I skipped forward, Live Access would balk. It kept balking, and finally, Firebox locked up and I had to crash the browser. When I came back, I gave up and watched it live, where a big run by Washington raining down three pointers closed the door on Atlanta.
Mike Thibault said something interesting after the game. He said his goal was to turn Angel McCoughtry into a passer. McCoughtry had 8 assists and 5 TO but she shot 6-for-20. Tiffany Hayes didn't do much better, 3-for-13. If I were Chicago or Indiana I might want to watch this game.
Part of Atlanta's problem was its 1-for-18 performance behind the line. She hit one with 22 seconds left to keep the Dream from having a goose egg. If that shot had missed, it would have been the worst performance at the 3-point line by a team this season. Two teams have gone 0-for-17 in a game behind the arc - the first was on June 7th when Seattle hosted Tulsa and went 0-for-17. The second was on July 21st when Atlanta visited Tulsa and also went 0-for-17. Atlanta is shooting 25.2 percent behind the arc, far worse than any other team (Phoenix is second at 29.5 percent).
The other game was Seattle at Phoenix. Good game, but I began to fall asleep at 10:40 am. So I went to bed.
I finally have enough items unpacked in the computer room to make it workable. This might be the only room of the new apartment that's 95 percent done. However, I need my computer room.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Minnesota @ Connecticut, and the Tao of Geno
I caught all of Minnesota @ Connecticut, but it was a hard game to pay attention to, even as a match between the (theoretically) best and worst teams in the WNBA. Minnesota won 91-77, but as I said on Twitter, it was a lot less close than the score indicates.
Minnesota shot 57.1 percent for that game and for most of it they were shooting over 60 percent. Janel McCarville was having a great game, and when your squad can't hinder an undersized center that's not a good sign. Add to that the fact that Connecticut was down to eight players, and the game degenerated into futile attempts by Connecticut to stop the Lynx from doing whatever they wanted to. (And if you look at the shooting percentage, those attempts were not successful.)
The only real excitement occurred in the fourth quarter with 8:18 to go. Connecticut managed to get back within 10 points, 72-62. The Lynx called a time out, snapped out of it, and proceeded to put the hurting again back on the Sun. Minnesota led by at least 8-10 points since the middle of the first quarter.
More valuable than anything taking place on the court was an interview with Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma that seemed to take up the entire second quarter. I think part of the reason that Auriemma doesn't do himself a favor in interviews is that his no-nonsense philosophy has no padding to it. He spoke about having to only recruit one player this off-season and that his upperclassmen must have hoped that he had recruited more, so they wouldn't have to get yelled out. "What about the seniors?" someone asked and Auriemma's answer was that he didn't yell at seniors - if he yelled at seniors, then he "kept them too long".
He spoke at length about Kelly Faris and the adjustment that rookies make adjusting to the WNBA. He stated that in the pros you have to give 100 percent. In college, sometimes the quality of opposition isn't good and you can get away with turning in less than 100 percent. However, everyone in the WNBA was an all-everything in college, and you'll be shown up if you don't give 100 percent. Since Faris can't give 100 percent due to injury and the fact that she's learning a new system, it's almost a given that she'll struggle.
They asked him what he would tell a losing team, keeping in mind that it has been a long time since Auriemma has coached one. He stated that he would remind them that they're professionals, and that winning games is actually in their job descriptions. If they'd decided that they're not going to make the effort to win games, that would be the same thing as your average worker deciding to take a day off because he/she just didn't want to work that day. They're pros, they're paid to win, and they need to act like it.
He also talked at length about Renee Montgomery and stated that Montgomery needed to see herself/the Sun needed to see her as a source of leadership. Kara Lawson's family issues means that she can't be vocal in the locker room, and as Auriemma claimed, leadership has to come from perimeter players. The reason is that perimeter players control the ball more. Tina Charles can be a vocal leader, but in the end, she really can't do very much for the Sun unless she gets the ball - she can only lead by example when the opportunity presents itself.
According to Auriemma, the more likely a player is to handle the ball, the more leadership is expected. In which case, I suppose that point guards are generals because they handle the ball more than other players. (So what rank does this make Charles? Colonel? Lieutenant? Sergeant? Front-line infantry?)
It's always interesting to listen to a basketball genius - which Auriemma is, by the way - share his philosophy. I think that Geno would be just as effective as a pro coach as he would be in college. Hey, if Connecticut's program goes the way of Louisiana Tech's, then I'm sure there's a spot in the W for Auriemma whenever he wants it.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Minnesota @ Atlanta, or "Where are you, Cheryl Reeve?"
The first rule is to give me some click love. I wrote about this game at Swish Appeal, so go to the link.
In the notes, I leave this comment:
Cheryl Reeve was not immediately available to the press after the game.
Yeah. After the game you're generally trapped between two locker rooms at either end of the hall. Predicting which of the coaches is going to come out first is a bit tricky. Winning coaches want to come out right away, losing coaches don't. So Senor Fred came out first and me, a friend of mine, and the AP guy talked to him.
That left Cheryl Reeve. Well, the Lynx media rep stated that Reeve was talking to some of her players, so she wouldn't be out right away. The AP guy was on a deadline, so he settled (if you could call that settling) for some quotes from Maya Moore. He went into the Lynx locker room, and later we saw him leave.
That left me and my friend. My friend is retired, so he could wait as long as it took. As for me, I had to work the next day.
Generally, the Dream media guy can get quotes by sending some interns in to get them. The fact that they got nothing from Reeve is a good sign that I could have stood there forever and she was in no mood for talking. Looks like I'll be talking with Reeve in 2014.
(* * *)
You might wonder which article of this little blog gets the most hits. It's the article about highest attended games from 2013, an article which is sadly out of date. I might need to update that one.
(* * *)
Trying to get the computer room in the new apartment in order. Everything looks a lot less uncluttered than it was a week ago. Unfortunately, the computer room seems to be the Place of Last Resort to put boxes now that the storage closet has filled up.
Furthermore, there is only one light in the computer room - an overhead light which appears to have a 100 watt light bulb in it. Ambient lighting is needed. I'll have to work on that.
In the notes, I leave this comment:
Cheryl Reeve was not immediately available to the press after the game.
Yeah. After the game you're generally trapped between two locker rooms at either end of the hall. Predicting which of the coaches is going to come out first is a bit tricky. Winning coaches want to come out right away, losing coaches don't. So Senor Fred came out first and me, a friend of mine, and the AP guy talked to him.
That left Cheryl Reeve. Well, the Lynx media rep stated that Reeve was talking to some of her players, so she wouldn't be out right away. The AP guy was on a deadline, so he settled (if you could call that settling) for some quotes from Maya Moore. He went into the Lynx locker room, and later we saw him leave.
That left me and my friend. My friend is retired, so he could wait as long as it took. As for me, I had to work the next day.
Generally, the Dream media guy can get quotes by sending some interns in to get them. The fact that they got nothing from Reeve is a good sign that I could have stood there forever and she was in no mood for talking. Looks like I'll be talking with Reeve in 2014.
(* * *)
You might wonder which article of this little blog gets the most hits. It's the article about highest attended games from 2013, an article which is sadly out of date. I might need to update that one.
(* * *)
Trying to get the computer room in the new apartment in order. Everything looks a lot less uncluttered than it was a week ago. Unfortunately, the computer room seems to be the Place of Last Resort to put boxes now that the storage closet has filled up.
Furthermore, there is only one light in the computer room - an overhead light which appears to have a 100 watt light bulb in it. Ambient lighting is needed. I'll have to work on that.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Current WNBA Coach of the Year Rankings
It's not time yet to write my Swish Appeal article on WNBA Coach of the Year, but I've run some preliminary rankings. Of course, there's a lot of room for change between now and late August.
1. Cheryl Reeve
2. Carol Ross
3. Pokey Chatman
4. Lin Dunn
5. Brian Agler
6. Corey Gaines/Russ Pennell
7. Dan Hughes
8. Fred Williams
9. Mike Thibault
10. Bill Laimbeer
11. Gary Kloppenberg
12. Anne Donovan
1. Cheryl Reeve
2. Carol Ross
3. Pokey Chatman
4. Lin Dunn
5. Brian Agler
6. Corey Gaines/Russ Pennell
7. Dan Hughes
8. Fred Williams
9. Mike Thibault
10. Bill Laimbeer
11. Gary Kloppenberg
12. Anne Donovan
The Bad Boy
It looks like Bill Laimbeer has gotten himself in trouble again/drawn attention to himself. Phil Erwin at Fox Sports North posted from the following link:
"I was a little disappointed when they left Maya Moore in the game to try and get player of the week again when the game was out of control," said Laimbeer, who spent 14 seasons in the NBA and earned a pair of championship rings. "She should get hurt for that."
My understanding is that Cheryl Reeve's comment is basically "no comment".
What will be more interesting is whether or not the WNBA will act. Given the fact that WNBA is negatively affected by injuries every year - Laimbeer himself can attest to that - for a coach to even imply that another player should be injured is over the top, even for Laimbeer.
So what's the WNBA going to do? Is Laurel Richie actually going to fine Laimbeer for his remarks - and is the fine going to be one of those unpublicized things where no one knows whether as much as a discouraging word took place? I don't think it can really be the latter, the WNBA has to say something even if it's a "we're dealing with this behind closed doors".
For there to be no official statement - even if the statement is only "we're aware of it and are looking into it" - would imply that the WNBA is just going to ignore it and hope it goes away. That's something that the WNBA can't afford to do. Yes, Laimbeer is a great coach but you can't just let him make veiled threats, even in jest. The WNBA needs to let fans know that it's going to do something, even if it's just a phone call saying "don't do that again."
"I was a little disappointed when they left Maya Moore in the game to try and get player of the week again when the game was out of control," said Laimbeer, who spent 14 seasons in the NBA and earned a pair of championship rings. "She should get hurt for that."
My understanding is that Cheryl Reeve's comment is basically "no comment".
What will be more interesting is whether or not the WNBA will act. Given the fact that WNBA is negatively affected by injuries every year - Laimbeer himself can attest to that - for a coach to even imply that another player should be injured is over the top, even for Laimbeer.
So what's the WNBA going to do? Is Laurel Richie actually going to fine Laimbeer for his remarks - and is the fine going to be one of those unpublicized things where no one knows whether as much as a discouraging word took place? I don't think it can really be the latter, the WNBA has to say something even if it's a "we're dealing with this behind closed doors".
For there to be no official statement - even if the statement is only "we're aware of it and are looking into it" - would imply that the WNBA is just going to ignore it and hope it goes away. That's something that the WNBA can't afford to do. Yes, Laimbeer is a great coach but you can't just let him make veiled threats, even in jest. The WNBA needs to let fans know that it's going to do something, even if it's just a phone call saying "don't do that again."
Monday, August 19, 2013
Elena Delle Donne, the Face of the WNBA
Here's the link that states that asks the hypothetical question of if Elena Delle Donne is Chicago's most famous female athlete? A general rule about hypothetical questions as article titles is that the answer is generally "no". (Someone forget about Sylvia Fowles?)
I'm not putting down EDD's obvious talent - she's a Rookie of the Year Lock - but if she becomes the face of the W, it will be in the same way that Molly Bolin was the face of the WBL:
* white
* blond
* good-looking
* better than average talent (in the case of both Bolin and EDD, amazing talent)
Just ask Anna Kournikova about that. I don't know if marketers get into the racial/heteronormative aspects (they probably use code words), but I'm sure that those three words are on someone lips in NBA/WNBA HQ. I'd like to think that Brittney Griner or Seimone Augustus can be the face of the league. Unfortunately, those old ways of thinking aren't dead yet.
Average Joe Average hasn't heard of her - but he's heard a lot about Brittney Griner. If the Chicago media machine is gearing up to promote EDD in a big way, I haven't heard the gears turning down South. Maybe someone closer to the action in Chi-town can set me straight.
I'm not putting down EDD's obvious talent - she's a Rookie of the Year Lock - but if she becomes the face of the W, it will be in the same way that Molly Bolin was the face of the WBL:
* white
* blond
* good-looking
* better than average talent (in the case of both Bolin and EDD, amazing talent)
Just ask Anna Kournikova about that. I don't know if marketers get into the racial/heteronormative aspects (they probably use code words), but I'm sure that those three words are on someone lips in NBA/WNBA HQ. I'd like to think that Brittney Griner or Seimone Augustus can be the face of the league. Unfortunately, those old ways of thinking aren't dead yet.
Average Joe Average hasn't heard of her - but he's heard a lot about Brittney Griner. If the Chicago media machine is gearing up to promote EDD in a big way, I haven't heard the gears turning down South. Maybe someone closer to the action in Chi-town can set me straight.
Washington @ Atlanta
If there's a team that can get hot and beat you, it's Washington. After Friday's blowout of the Sun by the Dream, I was hoping for good things, and it looks like I got them in the form of Tiffany Hayes pouring in 23 points. (It didn't hurt that the Mystics were held to 18 points over two quarters.)
At some point in the fourth quarter - probably when we were up by 20 or so - I used my Bill James Wins Calculator which told me that we were 100 percent of the way to a win. When Courtney Clements came out - and Ruth Riley soon after - that percentage climbed to 102 percent of the way.
Unfortunately, it looks like Clements is going to be a prototype 20-20-20 player - these are players that only appear when the team is up by 20, down by 20, or there is only 20 seconds left in the game. I don't see her being around next year. She's shooting 26.7 percent from the field, the kiss of death for a rookie. Clements had a great pre-season but Senor Fred won't bring in her even when we're behind by 20 in the fourth quarter. She's no longer making an impression.
Ruth Riley is the other puzzler, and the words "20-20-20 player" and "Ruth Riley" shouldn't even be in the same sentence. In 34 minutes this season, she's attempted three shots and missed all of them. (However, she has 8 personal fouls.) It's time to let her be great on some other team.
What really worries me are the three games against Chicago. We have three games against the Sky, but at least they're not back to backs. This gives us a chance to learn from our losses if we have any. Here's how I see the rest of the season going.
Chicago: we might go 1-2, since we have two away games
Connecticut: we won't lose again against them: 1-0
Indiana: playing them at home? 1-0
New York: depends on how healthy the Libs are: 1-0 if they're not, 0-1 if they are - they will probably be healthy
Washington: The Mystics will probably steal one from us: 1-1
Western teams: We play Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Phoenix at home. We should win one of those, but those are the kinds of teams that no visitor wants to see. San Antonio away on the last game of the season, after two games on the road? That's a loss. 1-3.
Final record: 18-16, probably either second or third. Anything above that is icing. Senor Fred keeps his job and we make it to the Eastern Conference finals, minimum.
Back to Washington: remember the 2013 WNBA Draft? We gave up our #7 and #19 picks in that draft to the Mystics for Jasmine Thomas. I'm looking ahead at who we're going to keep and who should go for the 2014 season.
McCoughtry, Lyttle, de Souza, and Hayes: all keepers. McCoughtry is starting to get into that area of restricted free agent/core player. But I think she likes Senor Fred and likes Atlanta. You never really know, though.
Thomas: Sure, why not? We wanted her, and now we got her. Basically, Washington got Kia Vaughn and Quanitra Hollingsworth for her. I don't know if we came out on top there, though. But those #7 and #19 picks weren't going to do us any good anyway.
Bentley: Keep her, too.
Herrington: Yes, keep her, she's a defensive specialist and can't score but you've got to have her for that nebulous "leadership" thingie. She deserves a nice long career with somebody.
Henry: Coin flip. She seems to have gone backwards this year. Keep her if you can't get anyone better.
Willingham: No. 3.5 ppg isn't going to keep you in the WNBA. If it weren't for Sancho Lyttle being hurt, she'd have a lot less than 16 starts.
Clements, Riley: No, and no.
At some point in the fourth quarter - probably when we were up by 20 or so - I used my Bill James Wins Calculator which told me that we were 100 percent of the way to a win. When Courtney Clements came out - and Ruth Riley soon after - that percentage climbed to 102 percent of the way.
Unfortunately, it looks like Clements is going to be a prototype 20-20-20 player - these are players that only appear when the team is up by 20, down by 20, or there is only 20 seconds left in the game. I don't see her being around next year. She's shooting 26.7 percent from the field, the kiss of death for a rookie. Clements had a great pre-season but Senor Fred won't bring in her even when we're behind by 20 in the fourth quarter. She's no longer making an impression.
Ruth Riley is the other puzzler, and the words "20-20-20 player" and "Ruth Riley" shouldn't even be in the same sentence. In 34 minutes this season, she's attempted three shots and missed all of them. (However, she has 8 personal fouls.) It's time to let her be great on some other team.
What really worries me are the three games against Chicago. We have three games against the Sky, but at least they're not back to backs. This gives us a chance to learn from our losses if we have any. Here's how I see the rest of the season going.
Chicago: we might go 1-2, since we have two away games
Connecticut: we won't lose again against them: 1-0
Indiana: playing them at home? 1-0
New York: depends on how healthy the Libs are: 1-0 if they're not, 0-1 if they are - they will probably be healthy
Washington: The Mystics will probably steal one from us: 1-1
Western teams: We play Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Phoenix at home. We should win one of those, but those are the kinds of teams that no visitor wants to see. San Antonio away on the last game of the season, after two games on the road? That's a loss. 1-3.
Final record: 18-16, probably either second or third. Anything above that is icing. Senor Fred keeps his job and we make it to the Eastern Conference finals, minimum.
Back to Washington: remember the 2013 WNBA Draft? We gave up our #7 and #19 picks in that draft to the Mystics for Jasmine Thomas. I'm looking ahead at who we're going to keep and who should go for the 2014 season.
McCoughtry, Lyttle, de Souza, and Hayes: all keepers. McCoughtry is starting to get into that area of restricted free agent/core player. But I think she likes Senor Fred and likes Atlanta. You never really know, though.
Thomas: Sure, why not? We wanted her, and now we got her. Basically, Washington got Kia Vaughn and Quanitra Hollingsworth for her. I don't know if we came out on top there, though. But those #7 and #19 picks weren't going to do us any good anyway.
Bentley: Keep her, too.
Herrington: Yes, keep her, she's a defensive specialist and can't score but you've got to have her for that nebulous "leadership" thingie. She deserves a nice long career with somebody.
Henry: Coin flip. She seems to have gone backwards this year. Keep her if you can't get anyone better.
Willingham: No. 3.5 ppg isn't going to keep you in the WNBA. If it weren't for Sancho Lyttle being hurt, she'd have a lot less than 16 starts.
Clements, Riley: No, and no.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Moving Day (Part II)
After four days, I can say that we are finally relocated. I'm going to spare you the details and instead summarize by day:
Thursday: This was the day that the lease to our apartment began. This means that we could begin transferring small items - food, computer equipment, perishables, china, etc. - to the apartment.
Friday: MOVING DAY. The movers came and carted everything out of the house. I have something to say about those people who moved me. Let me tell you...they were nothing but....
...the kindest, nicest, most polite people you'd ever meet. We're going to give those guys a good review on line somewhere.
What we won't be giving a good review is Comcast, which was scheduled to be installed on Friday, but wasn't. So here's the litany of woe.
1. They leave a message on our answering machine. The answering machine to our house, and they are aware that we have vacated it. They don't try to reach us by cell phone or anything.
2. My wife calls not once, but twice, and they assure us that they'll send someone. They don't. She also uses Comcast's automatic chat feature. For a third time, she is assured that we will have someone that day. We don't.
(Also: Apparently, Comcast only has 20 minutes worth of jazzy wait music. When it runs out, it runs out and you get dead silence. You don't know if they've dropped the line or not.)
So at 9 pm, my wife gives some poor sap at Comcast what for. She makes it painfully clear that she's not mad at the person - the poor girl answering the phone didn't do anything to us - but at Comcast's multiple broken promises. They assure us that they will get someone over on Saturday.
Saturday: Comcast technician shows up at 12 pm. They are supposed to bring two DVRs - one for the living room and one for the bed room - but the work order says only one. Basically, he says that our work order is routed wrong six ways to Sunday. "Every now and then a work order ends up in the ditch. This was the one."
It takes the poor guy five hours to install the one DVR, internet, and phone service. Part of the problem is with the DVR. The only way to make sure its working after a programming change is to reboot, and Comcast's new DVRs apparently take forever to reboot. So when we don't get our HD channels? Reboot. And Reboot. And reboot. He could have baked a cake during those reboot times, and guess what happened to the order after ours? Let's just say someone had a very bad time in addition to us.
Sunday: The last return to the old house, to pick up odds and ends, curtains, etc. We rented a van and did a lot of schlepping. But we are finally moved out and we figure that we don't have to return to the house for anything.
In eight days from now, we feverishly hope that we will sign the final documents that transfer ownership of the house.
(* * *)
Of course, I missed Connecticut @ Atlanta. I'm sad, since we beat the crap out of Connecticut and hopefully shut up a lot of people. I'm typing this from Philips Arena right now, waiting for Washington @ Atlanta to get started.
I almost tanked on coming. But I thought I had one last boost of energy, and I'm glad I showed up.
Thursday: This was the day that the lease to our apartment began. This means that we could begin transferring small items - food, computer equipment, perishables, china, etc. - to the apartment.
Friday: MOVING DAY. The movers came and carted everything out of the house. I have something to say about those people who moved me. Let me tell you...they were nothing but....
...the kindest, nicest, most polite people you'd ever meet. We're going to give those guys a good review on line somewhere.
What we won't be giving a good review is Comcast, which was scheduled to be installed on Friday, but wasn't. So here's the litany of woe.
1. They leave a message on our answering machine. The answering machine to our house, and they are aware that we have vacated it. They don't try to reach us by cell phone or anything.
2. My wife calls not once, but twice, and they assure us that they'll send someone. They don't. She also uses Comcast's automatic chat feature. For a third time, she is assured that we will have someone that day. We don't.
(Also: Apparently, Comcast only has 20 minutes worth of jazzy wait music. When it runs out, it runs out and you get dead silence. You don't know if they've dropped the line or not.)
So at 9 pm, my wife gives some poor sap at Comcast what for. She makes it painfully clear that she's not mad at the person - the poor girl answering the phone didn't do anything to us - but at Comcast's multiple broken promises. They assure us that they will get someone over on Saturday.
Saturday: Comcast technician shows up at 12 pm. They are supposed to bring two DVRs - one for the living room and one for the bed room - but the work order says only one. Basically, he says that our work order is routed wrong six ways to Sunday. "Every now and then a work order ends up in the ditch. This was the one."
It takes the poor guy five hours to install the one DVR, internet, and phone service. Part of the problem is with the DVR. The only way to make sure its working after a programming change is to reboot, and Comcast's new DVRs apparently take forever to reboot. So when we don't get our HD channels? Reboot. And Reboot. And reboot. He could have baked a cake during those reboot times, and guess what happened to the order after ours? Let's just say someone had a very bad time in addition to us.
Sunday: The last return to the old house, to pick up odds and ends, curtains, etc. We rented a van and did a lot of schlepping. But we are finally moved out and we figure that we don't have to return to the house for anything.
In eight days from now, we feverishly hope that we will sign the final documents that transfer ownership of the house.
(* * *)
Of course, I missed Connecticut @ Atlanta. I'm sad, since we beat the crap out of Connecticut and hopefully shut up a lot of people. I'm typing this from Philips Arena right now, waiting for Washington @ Atlanta to get started.
I almost tanked on coming. But I thought I had one last boost of energy, and I'm glad I showed up.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Moving Day (Part I)
Today's the day where we schlep all of our loose possessions and loose change over from our house to the our brand new apartment. So for today and tomorrow, you'll be lucky to get brief posts if any.
I'll skip our restaurant debacle which caused me to miss the entire first half of Atlanta @ Connecticut. It was good that I missed it.
Dream, what the hell?
Dream, what the hell?
DREAM, WHAT THE HELL?
Yes, McCoughtry had a knock-yer-socks-off performance. But who else is going to pick up the slack when Tina Charles scores 25 points?
Le'coe Willingham: 0-for-5, 0 points, 20 minutes played. She makes Shalee Lehning's offense look like Cappie Pondexter's. Over the last 3 games, she's played 58 minutes and has scored exactly one (1) point. Let's just say that she plays a limited role on the Dream and leave it at that.
The Dream are 1-8 over their last nine games. The last time that the Dream was 1-8 over the last nine games was in the final nine games of 2008. That was a year the Dream went 4-30.
A fellow travel at Rebkell typed: "If the Dream don't make a coaching change, they may not win another game this season." First, I don't think that the Dream can take another late-season coaching change - we tried that last year. Who would take over? Joe Ciampi? Julie Plank (Plank wouldn't want to be a coach/GM)?
Second, I'm not ready to give up just yet. There's still Friday night's game against Connecticut, at home. If we lose that game - then I might reconsider the status quo.
I'll skip our restaurant debacle which caused me to miss the entire first half of Atlanta @ Connecticut. It was good that I missed it.
Dream, what the hell?
Dream, what the hell?
DREAM, WHAT THE HELL?
Yes, McCoughtry had a knock-yer-socks-off performance. But who else is going to pick up the slack when Tina Charles scores 25 points?
Le'coe Willingham: 0-for-5, 0 points, 20 minutes played. She makes Shalee Lehning's offense look like Cappie Pondexter's. Over the last 3 games, she's played 58 minutes and has scored exactly one (1) point. Let's just say that she plays a limited role on the Dream and leave it at that.
The Dream are 1-8 over their last nine games. The last time that the Dream was 1-8 over the last nine games was in the final nine games of 2008. That was a year the Dream went 4-30.
A fellow travel at Rebkell typed: "If the Dream don't make a coaching change, they may not win another game this season." First, I don't think that the Dream can take another late-season coaching change - we tried that last year. Who would take over? Joe Ciampi? Julie Plank (Plank wouldn't want to be a coach/GM)?
Second, I'm not ready to give up just yet. There's still Friday night's game against Connecticut, at home. If we lose that game - then I might reconsider the status quo.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Sisyphus
I only have two more nights to spend in the house before we move to the apartment. I'm taking tomorrow and Friday off from work to be ready to pitch in wherever needed.
On Thursday, we finish signing the lease and get the keys to the apartment. Thursday will be spent moving the necessities - food, clothing, etc. - over to the new apartment from the house. Friday will be the actual move day, when the house itself is cleared of furniture. Theoretically, that day will be the very last day we see the old house again, except for possible drive-bys when we're feeling nostalgic.
It's been rather stressful and to top it all off, I've not been taking some of my depression meds. This morning, I made sure to remember. Then I couldn't find any of the meds. I sent my wife an e-mail from work, and she said that the pharmacy had moved the meds into one of their printed bottles rather than the standard model. So the meds were there, I just couldn't find them. Looks like I'll be heading back home at lunchtime.
My plan for tonight is to take a nice relaxing bath in the bathtub after Atlanta @ Connecticut. The new bathtub isn't as big, so I better enjoy my last bath while I still have a chance.
(* * *)
I didn't see any of Chicago @ Los Angeles. Those 10:30 pm ET start times will kill you; that's when I went to bed. I slept horribly on Monday night and I knew I wouldn't make it through the night.
Looking at the box score, it appears that I missed a great game, with 17 lead changes. Carol Ross at LA moves up to 4-1 for the season in games decide by 5 points or less, Pokey Chatman falls back to 2-2. Ross, Laimbeer, and Thibault are all legitimately great coaches; I have no idea who I'll vote for as Coach of the Year.
Sad to see that Elena Delle Donne injured her foot. According to EDD, someone stepped on it and it doesn't seem to be broken, just sore. Given Griner's injuries and the concussion that kept EDD out of the All-Star Game, I'm wondering if Griner and Delle Donne are being forced to carry greater loads than would be expected of a rookie. There are Phoenix fans who still expect for Griner to be scoring every time she touches the ball, as if "Get it to Griner" is the winning strategy in a league where you have to face Candace Parker and Seimone Augustus on a regular basis. Yeah, Phoenix can get it to Griner, but then Griner has to run over the center who was also All-Everything in college.
That's what people don't recognize - this league is a league full of college All-Stars, and it's a leap up from the college game. Look at Skylar Diggins in Tulsa. She averaged 17.1 ppg for the Fighting Irish in her senior year but at Tulsa she's averaging 8.0 and hasn't even started every game, whereas EDD and Griner haven't missed a start. Diggins's performance is actually pretty good for your run-of-the-mill rookie point guard, but this is Skylar Diggins we're talking about. People expected more, certainly in Tulsa.
I suspect that Diggins is going to be the Anna Kournikova of the WNBA, at least based on the 2013 season - she's the good looking woman whose publicity and attention strips her talent.
(* * *)
The Dream get the chance to play Connecticut in a couple of back to backs games. In Connecticut on Wednesday, and at Philips on Friday.
Dream win both games? All the negative talk shuts down.
Dream lose one? Verily, that would truly sucketh.
Dream lose both? People are going to start questioning Senor Fred's job security. You don't lose two to the Sun, even if you've been playing like...well, what the Dream have been playing like.
Don't think the players don't feel it. When waiting to ask Fred Williams questions, I wait outside the locker room. When the Dream win, the players walk back to the locker room at their own speed, laughing, giggling, talking loudly. After the New York game, they marched back to the locker room literally in single-file, like a bunch of schoolchildren caught in a prank gone horribly wrong. They looked miserable. They felt miserable. So no, the players don't blow off these losses.
Senor Fred was surprisingly upbeat. I suspect that's just his personality. He was actually let go at USC because the parents (and players?) wanted more of a disciplinarian. I could understand how it could get on someone's nerves, but I suspect that he hates losing as much as the rest of the Dream does. You don't have to cry or scream to show that you hate losing.
Let's turn this game around tonight. I'll be watching on Live Access, hope you will too.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Hoverers, or "A Hater's Taxonomy"
(hatters gotta hat, and haters gotta hate)
The Hater's Taxonomy was an article I prepped when WNBA hate was high. But WNBA hate ain't so high no more. I'm sure the haters have gone underground, so I decided I'd just follow the advice of the above sign. So enjoy.
"Hoverers", or "A Hater's Taxonomy"
A recent article by Rosie Schapp at NPR written during the World Cup furor attempted a classification of the various types of soccer fan. One type of fan listed by Schapp was the "Hoverer". If you read the description, Hoverers really don't sound like fans but would probably be listed in the "Haters" group.
Some hoverers not only have zero interest in soccer—they also can’t wait to tell you why. They love to announce how boring it is, how insufferably low-scoring it is, and how much they hate it, all while blocking your view and otherwise disrupting your World Cup enjoyment. Most hoverers, however, are benign: along for the ride, they want to hang out with their chums, drink some beer, maybe glance at the game every ten minutes or so. And that’s fine, gentle hoverer, as long as you promise to stand and not take up valuable barstool space.
I wondered why Schapp would call these sort of anti-fans "hoverers", which was made more clear when I read an on-line definition of "hover":
hover
intransitive verb
1. to stay suspended or flutter in the air near one place
2. to linger or wait close by, esp. in an overprotective, insistent, or anxious way
3. to be in an uncertain condition; waver (between)
Definitions #2 and #3 really struck me. A lot of haters - or at least the more trollish ones - strike me as hoverers. They betray an "insistent anxiety". They won't trot out merely one argument or why they might hate women's basketball, but they'll trot out several brief arguments all in the same sentence - usually entire sentences separated by commas, as if space were at a premium and they felt that they nervously had to get everything in the comment thread before the internet was closed down.
This led me to conclude that not all "haters" of women's basketball are the same. By "hater", I mean someone who feels that he has to vocalize his or her hatred towards the sport. (As opposed to the "indifferent" or the "silent hater" who doesn't like women's basketball but is perfectly content to let the sport go his own way.)
Here is my proposed taxonomy of haters. The first rule is that a "hater" is only a person who professes a hatred of women's basketball in a public forum, even an anonymous public forum like the internet. The hater, believe it or not, might actually not hate women's basketball at all. You can classify haters into several groups.
1. Hoverers: A hoverer is sort of the Senator Larry Craig of women's basketball hater-tude. Craig, in case you forget, was the Family Values Senator who was caught looking for love in the men's public bathroom.
Hoverers are extremely conflicted about their hatred. Part of it is due to sheer fear that their own perceived masculinity might be devalued if they actually enjoyed the sport, or admitted to it. Therefore, they have to express their hate at all times lest that male basketball fans might think that they're not man enough if that women's basketball fan inside suddenly leaps out of the closet. You might never find them with a rentboy in the Carribean, but they might have a DVD of the 2005 WNBA Finals shoved somewhere under their bed.
2. Haters But: The "hater but" is a hater who will make an exception in certain rare cases, usually for an institution or particular player that has caught his or her eye. For example, I'm sure that you'll find an intersection between fans of Georgia Tech football and women's basketball haters, as college football fans tend to be fairly conservative. However, some Yellow Jackets fans will make an exception when it comes to the women's college team. After all, it's important to those fans that Georgia Tech succeed in everything, even the sports that they don't like.
Likewise, some Hawks fans will be interested in how the Dream are doing because they support anything that has to do with Atlanta sports - Falcons, Hawks, Braves, Dream, Beat, whatever. Either that, or they like Candace Parker. Or Britney Griner. Or whatever. The Haters But can still be reached, in the same way that the heart of the Death Star could be reached if you could hit that two-meter wide exhaust vent.
3. Trogs: Short for "troglydites", these are the fans whose hatred is based in the Bigot's Triangle: black, female, and/or gay. Any one of the three will set a Trog off. Most Trogs wish the clock could be turned back to 1963, when women were in the kitchen, blacks knew their place and gays were arrested. Overwhelmingly, this group is composed of white male heterosexuals, but there are some exceptions - "Trog Identifiers" like, say, conservative female columnists who are identifying with a powerful interest group and are hoping to gain power by association.
WNBA hatred is merely a subset of their other various hatreds. The Trogs wage a war against modernity in all its forms and many of them haven't watched a basketball game since 1960-whatever when the game became "too black."
4. Trolls: Trolls don't really hate women's basketball at all, but they like to pretend they do. The overwhelming property of a troll is that troll craves attention - either not getting enough of it at childhood or being deliberately ignored or disliked by his/her peers at a teenager. (The emotionally secure don't need to troll, because that would be pointless.) Unwilling to cultivate positive qualities (or failing at it), trolls seek attention through negative behavior.
Trolls are particularly drawn to the W because women's basketball - a niche sport - is receiving both time and money that they could be receiving if the universe was proper and just in appropriating rewards and punishment. (In their individual cases, the universe is more proper and just than it usually is. That's the actual problem.)
5. Camp followers: Camp followers simply hate the same crap their friends hate. Generally, their friends get together and decide what they will mutually hate. Don't claim moral superiority if you're reading this - you do it too.
Most camp followers have simply never watched women's basketball. Unfortunately, getting them to watch a game is no solution because their opinion will change again when they hook up with their friends again.
6. Oracles: The Oracles are a subset of "Mister Know-it-All" (see below). These were the guys who bet in 1997 that the league would fold in three years. The league didn't fold, and they're pissed, so they step up to the table every year and make the same bet. A trog hates the W because its players exist; Oracles and Pikemen hate the league because the league exists.
7. Mister Know-It-All: Mister Know-It-All is one of those guys who loves to expound on his "logical" arguments about why women's basketball falls short. The existence of the league annoys him but he doesn't wish the league's annihilation like a Trog or an Oracle. Rather, the league's annihilation would simply confirm his predictions and he'd get a small amount of satisfaction before turning elsewhere.
Mind you, most of the arguments that Mister Know-It-All advocates fall short of any serious scrunity - but that doesn't mean that he won't keep repeating him. MKIA's are masters of what's called framing, which is creating an argument so elastic that it can't be falsified. If women's basketball has a success, clearly someone like the NBA is responsible for that success. If women's basketball falls short somewhere it's a mere confirmation of the inevitable. Until the league fails - which, according to our Mister Know-It-All, it will - all events, good or bad, confirm his initial prediction. (Hell, the league could survive for fifty years but it just proves his point.)
The difference between Oracles and Mister Know-It-All is that Oracles don't base their arguments in historical inevitability. Furthermore, Oracles keep making the same "bad bet" year after year after year. Oracles make bets, MKIAs make investments.
8. Pikemen. Pikemen are those guys that stand outside the portcullis of a castle bearing halberds or long, pointy spears. They don't hate women the same way that Trogs hate them. Rather, they have claimed sports as the Domain of Men, and really wish that those bitches would stay the hell out of it and not try to horn in on their territory. Any rumbling in the background that women might be participating in sports - or at least, expressing an interest in sports that wouldn't be subordinate to male opinion or "mansplaining" (look it up) - and the pikes come out.
Pikemen aren't Trogs, for the most part, although you can find a Trog pulling double-duty. Pikemen can deal with women being their bosses, or women succeeding in fields like law, or medicine. (Although, of course, there are many jokes to be told, heh heh.) But sports is going too far! "I watch sports to get away from women!" is the cry. Sports is the last exclusive male domain...or at least the popular sports are. These guys think that if you let the WNBA survive, soon television might have the alternative of showing a men's game or a women's game - and such a thing should never come to pass. After that, Armageddon.
Sadly enough, the sports shills who populate our nation's newsrooms act as Pikemen. Some are true Pikemen, some are simply protecting either the sport they shill for or are simply too lazy to learn about any other sport.
(* * *)
So how does one use the hater's taxonomy? The idea behind the taxonomy is that some haters can't be reached...but some can. If you can figure out which kind of hater you're talking to, you have a shot at reaching him.
Hoverers might know quite a bit about women's basketball, more than the average sports fan. A Hater But can be reached by appealing to whatever commonality he might momentarily have with the women's game - city, college, whatever. If you can keep a Camp Follower for a long time, they'll just start following the camp of those who love women's basketball. (But only if they can easily drop their former acquaintances.) Trolls don't really care about women's basketball one way or the other - but at least if you ignore them they go away.
Other groups are longshots. A MKIA will never admit that he might be wrong, and will simply pity you for your delusions. Oracles generally aren't reasoners. Pikemen rarely desert their posts, and you really don't want to talk to a Trog even on the days when a Trog is feeling good - that much hate is toxic. If you're going to convert a community to women's basketball person-by-person - as Kathy Betty of the Atlanta Dream seems determined to do - you need to know where to spend your precious energy and electrolytes. Either that, or buy some Gatorade to counteract the Haterade.
New (Old) article up at Swish Appeal
Due to the move this week, things are going to lag a bit, even updates. However, on Monday I wrote an article about the New York @ Atlanta game which is now at Swish Appeal. Give it a spin.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Gone, Gone, Gone (Part II)
In the meantime, I've been a little busy. During the weekend, a couple of my wife's friends (and by extension, my friends) dropped by to help us move.
The Big Moving Day is still scheduled as Thursday. Last night's dinner was the last dinner served at our house, ever. My wife will be packing the kitchen while I'm off to the New York @ Atlanta game. The contents of the guest room - the bed and a large chest of drawers - have been given to our friends to take to North Carolina.
On Saturday, we held what Ruth calls a "lazy garage sale". It's basically a garage sale where the customer names his or her own price. We made about $300 and got rid of a couch. That couch cost us $600, and we sold it for $80. However, the coach has about six years of wear and multiple cat scratches. We concluded that given the six years and the heavy wear and the cat scratches, we did pretty well, earning at least the present value of the coach.
We still have one huge desk to get rid of - a monster relic from the 1950s that no one, and I mean no one, has shown interest in. The plan is that during Moving Day, we'll just put the desk on the corner and the first person that wants it can take it away.
This leads me to something that one of our North Carolina friends, Christian, told me. He told me that when he was living in California, a friend of his was trying to get rid of a couch. So he moved the couch out onto the curb, and posted a sign - "FREE COUCH".
Two days passed. No takers. So his friend went back outside, flipped the sign over, and instead wrote "COUCH FOR SALE, $100, INQUIRE WITHIN".
Four hours later, the couch was gone. It got up and "walked away" without notice. His friend didn't get $100 - even the sign was gone - but he did get rid of the coach, which is what he wanted.
(* * *)
While my wife and I were regaled by tales of missing/stolen furniture, I was forced to miss the Atlanta @ Indiana game. Games don't take precedence over guests. I can't understand how anyone could think otherwise.
I'm glad I didn't see it, because I'd be banging my head against the wall. I'm not looking at the box score, but the Dream threw away the last quarter, outscored 19-9 in the final ten minutes. The Dream is looking very, very vulnerable right now.
Oddly enough, today's New York @ Atlanta game has two teams playing on one day's rest, but in very different situations. New York is coming from a game where they were probably not even competitive against Los Angeles at home, and now have to go to play against Atlanta which is undefeated at home. The Dream, meanwhile, are coming off an away game where they were competitive until that last final quarter, and are now in the comforts of home.
I think the Dream will win this one - but it will be close. Let's go Dream!
Gone, Gone, Gone (Part I)
Corey Gaines of the Phoenix Mercury lost his job, not long after my unnamed friend and I began talking about his job prospects for 2014. I wasn't surprised by Gaines's firing. The only thing I was surprised by was the timing: how swiftly the axe came.
At some point on Rebkell, fans began talking up the point the Gaines Must Go. There had always been a contingent that Gaines Must Go, but with season ticket renewal time in Phoenix, the calls for Gaines's ouster became fast and furious.
Here's something I've known for a long time that I'm sure some fans might not know - the league reads Rebkell. I've know that for a long time. People in various admin positions in the league have actually posted on Rebs, sometimes under a nom de plume. So at some level of management, people read Rebkell. The real question is how high that level of management goes. Does President Lauren Richie read Rebkell? Probably not. But I'll bet $10 that she know what it is, and that it exists, and that if there's anything bubbling on Rebkell it gets to the authorities in short order. The ownership of the franchises and management of the WNBA probably gets news of what's going on on the biggest women's basketball messageboard - what a bunch of middle aged, skinflint fans think about anything might not be persuasive, but I'm sure that they'll at least consider the opinions of The Base like any good old fashioned politicians.
Gaines should have cursed his bad luck when Phoenix got the first round draft pick in 2013. He should have known that after the Quit for Britt debacle that Phoenix season ticket holder expectations would probably be blown sky high. Instead, the Mercury went 0-for-5 against the Lynx and 0-for-3 against the Storm. Taurasi was picking up technical fouls like she was getting paid for each one she could earn. Penny Taylor still isn't healthy.
There are fan expectations, there is reality, and the coach is the figure that sits right in the middle. Gaines was caught between the Scylla and the Charybdis. He's never really been a fan favorite like say Lin Dunn, or Bill Laimbeer, he comes off as a quiet kind of guy.
Maybe too quiet. I've been waiting for Gaines to get the axe since I saw a little clip years ago that promised to take you into the locker room of the Phoenix Mercury. It was time for Gaines to give his instructions to the troops.
He walked up to the whiteboard like your boring high school chemistry teacher. The students - the players - were laughing, joking, and paying this guy no mind whatsoever while Gaines droned on about whatever. That's when I knew he was fucked. I felt that he didn't command the respect of his players. We're not looking for an autocrat here, but we're also not looking for a functionary. We're looking for someone who, when he talks, you know, the players might stop what they're doing and listen to him.
I've been lucky enough to hear what goes on with the coach on one side of a locker room door and me on the other side. I've heard Mike Thibault shout so loud after a game that I thought the door was going to blow down like the Walls of Jericho. (I don't know what he was saying, being muffled by the door, but iw as sure loud.) I've heard the same from Pokey Chatman with the sound of things shattering from behind the door.
They don't like losing. Not a bit. When they do their pre-game chalk talk, I'll bet their players listen.
A bad coach can win if he has good players. A good coach can lose if he has bad ones. Corey Gaines won when he had good players when the Mercury last won the championship, and when the players weren't playing as good, it was time for Gaines to go. Whether he got canned in early August on early December, that train has been coming for a long time.
At some point on Rebkell, fans began talking up the point the Gaines Must Go. There had always been a contingent that Gaines Must Go, but with season ticket renewal time in Phoenix, the calls for Gaines's ouster became fast and furious.
Here's something I've known for a long time that I'm sure some fans might not know - the league reads Rebkell. I've know that for a long time. People in various admin positions in the league have actually posted on Rebs, sometimes under a nom de plume. So at some level of management, people read Rebkell. The real question is how high that level of management goes. Does President Lauren Richie read Rebkell? Probably not. But I'll bet $10 that she know what it is, and that it exists, and that if there's anything bubbling on Rebkell it gets to the authorities in short order. The ownership of the franchises and management of the WNBA probably gets news of what's going on on the biggest women's basketball messageboard - what a bunch of middle aged, skinflint fans think about anything might not be persuasive, but I'm sure that they'll at least consider the opinions of The Base like any good old fashioned politicians.
Gaines should have cursed his bad luck when Phoenix got the first round draft pick in 2013. He should have known that after the Quit for Britt debacle that Phoenix season ticket holder expectations would probably be blown sky high. Instead, the Mercury went 0-for-5 against the Lynx and 0-for-3 against the Storm. Taurasi was picking up technical fouls like she was getting paid for each one she could earn. Penny Taylor still isn't healthy.
There are fan expectations, there is reality, and the coach is the figure that sits right in the middle. Gaines was caught between the Scylla and the Charybdis. He's never really been a fan favorite like say Lin Dunn, or Bill Laimbeer, he comes off as a quiet kind of guy.
Maybe too quiet. I've been waiting for Gaines to get the axe since I saw a little clip years ago that promised to take you into the locker room of the Phoenix Mercury. It was time for Gaines to give his instructions to the troops.
He walked up to the whiteboard like your boring high school chemistry teacher. The students - the players - were laughing, joking, and paying this guy no mind whatsoever while Gaines droned on about whatever. That's when I knew he was fucked. I felt that he didn't command the respect of his players. We're not looking for an autocrat here, but we're also not looking for a functionary. We're looking for someone who, when he talks, you know, the players might stop what they're doing and listen to him.
I've been lucky enough to hear what goes on with the coach on one side of a locker room door and me on the other side. I've heard Mike Thibault shout so loud after a game that I thought the door was going to blow down like the Walls of Jericho. (I don't know what he was saying, being muffled by the door, but iw as sure loud.) I've heard the same from Pokey Chatman with the sound of things shattering from behind the door.
They don't like losing. Not a bit. When they do their pre-game chalk talk, I'll bet their players listen.
A bad coach can win if he has good players. A good coach can lose if he has bad ones. Corey Gaines won when he had good players when the Mercury last won the championship, and when the players weren't playing as good, it was time for Gaines to go. Whether he got canned in early August on early December, that train has been coming for a long time.
Friday, August 9, 2013
New Article up on Swish Appeal
...this one is about how great the Mystics are in close games. It's a short article, but this is also a short blog post. So now that you've read the one, go read the other!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Surviving Juwanna Mann
(much better than Juwanna Mann)
As you might have guessed, a very busy day yesterday didn't leave me with much time to write anything.
First, in my hopefully-soon-to-fold baseball league, the deadline for voting for MVP, Rookie of the Year, etc. was yesterday, forcing me to scrape a few brain cells off the floor and fill out my ballot.
Then, meetings at work. Almost two hours worth of them.
Then, more work at work. You know, work work.
Studying for Exam 3L.
An e-mail from an ABL player who was left off the "Where are they now?" list of 1996-97 ABL players. This is because even though she was on a roster in 1996-97, she was injured and didn't have any regular season minutes until 1997-98. I think that's the third time I've been contacted, either directly or indirectly, from an ex-pro.
A phone call from a basketball friend where we talked about Cambage in Tulsa, Diggins's inadequacies in Tulsa, and the poor attendance of the Atlanta Dream. He forced me to name who I thought was going to face Minneapolis in the WNBA Finals. I hemmed and hawed and I finally said "Indiana".
Then, some relaxation time before bed.
So, not much time to write about anything.
(* * *)
There were five games on Tuesday, and I only saw part of one of them - the first half of Seattle @ Phoenix. After watching Seattle struggle to get to 10 points in the second quarter, with Diana Taurasi scoring 1-for-7 and the Storm collectively shooting 28.6 percent, I decided that watching the game was not worth the price of fighting sleep. Which was a real pity, since the Storm won on the road 80-65, outscoring the Merc 49-35 in the back half and shooting 51.5 percent.
This led to a long line of discussion on Rebkell as to whether or not Corey Gaines should be fired. I've never thought that much of Gaines's coaching chops although my phone friend said that it is a different team with Penny Taylor injured. My guess is a good 60 percent that if Gaines can't make the Western Conference finals, he's gone for next year. (Could we see Marynell Meadors at Phoenix in 2014?)
(* * *)
Before that game started, I decided that I would watch a movie that has been decried by the women's basketball community almost sight-unseen - the ignoble Juwanna Mann, which opened in theaters in 2002 and probably closed just as quickly.
Here's the plot. In protest for being taken out of a pro basketball game, Jamal Jeffries (Miguel A. Núñez, Jr.) strips naked. He is declared persona non grata by professional basketball, he loses his mansion and his money, his model girlfriend walks out on him and his prospects are slim to none. Living with his aunt, he watches a pickup game between kids and one of the players - a girl - pretends to ask him for his autograph, only to insult him.
Seeing this girl play against boys sparks an idea. He calls his ex-agent to tell him that he's found the greatest player he's ever seen - a woman. He dresses himself as a woman, calls herself "Juwanna" (the "Mann" was inspired only out of necessity, needing a last name), and swings a tryout with the fictional Charlotte Banshees of the WUBA, the WNBA-stand in that acts as the pro women's league.
I only made it to somewhere between the 40 minute / 1 hour mark before I gave up. This movie is terrible.
You've probably concluded that I'm some oversensitive "beta male" and that that's why I think that the movie is terrible. That's not it. On a scale of offensiveness? Maybe about a 1 1/2 out of 10. Yes, the movie is a bit dismissive of women's basketball but in terms of nastiness, ten minutes of a Daniel Tosh or Andrew Dice Clay routine would lap any nastiness from Juwanna Mann.
Rather, the movie is just terrible as a movie. The humor comes right out of that kid from seventh grade who thought he was funny. These jokes died in vaudeville over eighty years ago. Miguel A. Núñez, Jr. plays the part of egomaniacal basketball player (male and female) so broadly that you could see it from Pluto. I dare you - I mean I DARE YOU - to make it all the way through this movie to the end; I'd think I need combat pay to put up with the lameness of this film.
The only way to watch this movie and survive it is to have absolutely no expectations of being entertained. Women's basketball lovers will hate it. Women's basketball HATERS will hate it as well. Miguel A. Núñez, Jr. is now on a milk can somewhere. The last movie of note that Vivica A. Fox appeared in was Kill Bill, and that was 10 years ago. (Her last two movies went straight-to-video.) Kevin Pollak acquits himself as well as he can, but he's probably made more money playing poker than he'll ever make from Juwanna Mann.
Trivia note: the music from this movie is from Wendy & Lisa. Remember Prince and the Revolution? Yeah, those two. After watching part of Juwanna Mann, I know now what it sounds like when doves cry.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
How much the AJC is worth (to me)
(not even worth stealing)
We have five WNBA games on tap today - the first is going on as I type, Washington is leading the Liberty 41-40 with 1:30 to go in the first half. If New York loses this one, I expect a certain person on Twitter to go batshit insane.
My plan is to hit the game that is the easiest one to see - Seattle @ Phoenix at 10 pm on ESPN2. I'll have to go to bed a little bit later than usual, but hey, them's the breaks. There's nothing that beats watching the W on television; the picture and sound quality are just better and more dependable than Live Access.
This year, I paid $14.99 for Live Access. Let's assume that I watched every Dream away game on Live Access, and just those games alone. That's a fee of 88 cents a game. Is it worth it? You bet your sweet bippy it's worth it. I love my Dream at least 88 cents a game worth.
But you can watch a lot more than just 88 cents per game. You can watch any WNBA game you want, including all of the archived games that have already been played this season. You can stop them, start them, speed it up. People whine about the product, but jeez, open your wallet up. You're never going to get a better deal than that. Even if the product was crappy and the $15 was just a pro-forma donation to the WNBA, I'd still be paying it. The WNBA is at least $15 worth of my present day happiness.
Now, consider the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I've had the chance to meet a lot of nice people working the Atlanta Dream beat at the AJC. Unfortunately, it appears to be the niche beat and one of the lowest ranking reporters on the totem pole usually gets sent to cover the team, so it's a different person every year. Not much continuity there.
Reporting on the Dream at the main city paper tends to be spotty. At least I think it is. I wouldn't know. I stopped reading the AJC two years ago, as a protest against the lack of Dream coverage. I think my disaffection with the AJC really started with their "Ha-Ha" reporting attitude of some of their sports bloggers after the infamous Elmo Game. It wasn't the kind of sports reporting that I needed to pay for, and frankly, I haven't missed it.
The AJC is trying the paywall solution to its financial woes. They have a website called ajc.com which reports the main stories with a special expanded section (probably the stuff you get in the dead tree version) called myajc.com. The cost of having myajc.com is $3.46/week.
This is approximately 50 cents per day. Way too high. I didn't even read 75 cents worth of the print version of the AJC per day. (It is now $1 per day for the daily print version; I don't know how much the Sunday version is.)
So how much would I pay for the right to get all of the stories I wanted to read online? Since most of a local paper is crap, I'd pay 5 cents per day. I think that's a fair price. I'd read the few articles I wanted to read, and to hell with the rest.
I'd pay 5 cents per day. The AJC wants to charge 50 cents per day. It looks like the AJC and I have a difference on price point.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Whither the W?
(17 years now)
Didn't see any of the games yesterday. Part of this was due to being out and about, the other part was due to depression related issues. I think I'm going to need an upping of the dose of Pristiq I take, because I certainly had no get up and go. In order to get this move done, I'm going to need some get up and go. I wonder if that Red Bull stuff really gives you wings?
Not much of a suprise in the results. San Antonio beat Tulsa and got a close win. Coach Klopp is 0-4 in games decided in five points or less, and even though he's a big improvement over his predecessors, I'm wondering if he's really the guy to turn the shock franchise around. If he can get to 10 wins, then his goal next year is the playoffs. If he can't make that goal, then Tulsa should drop him and bring someone else in.
Los Angeles won nicely over Washington. Harding stuck it to her former team.
Minnesota just keeps on rolling along. 16-3 on the year, third longest home win streak in WNBA history and another year of Lynxcess. If they go to the finals, that's three straight years. Detroit, LA and Houston are the only teams to go three straight years.
(* * *)
The guy I'm working with on the Historical Coaches Register wants to add a lot to the register. I don't know if I'm really up to it but I'm willing to help out. Unfortunately, I have a lot on my plate so any help is going to be piecemeal at best.
(* * *)
I've updated the WNBA Box Scores spreadsheet to a v 1.1.7. We have now added conference standings. The sheet is updated to the end of last night's games, so go and check it out.
(* * *)
The Chicago Tribune asked several writers from various newspapers what the future of the WNBA would be after Adam Silver takes over from David Stern as the commissioner of the WNBA.
Josh Robbins, Orlando Sentinel: no, the WNBA isn't going way
Shandel Richardson, Sun Sentinel: Silver should have the WNBA play the same time as the NBA
Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times: the WNBA will remain a fringe product
Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune: mentions the 24/7 website prediction, questions whether Silver has the same passion/power that Stern did - someone at Chicago Sky says that Silver cares deeply about the WNBA
My brief comments:
As for Richardson's comment, the WNBA will not play at the same time for at least two reasons - they don't want to piss off the NCAA women's basketball powers that give tacit support to the WNBA by playing the same time they do. Furthermore, the WNBA fills arena space when the NBA teams aren't playing in the summer.
Robbins is right. The WNBA isn't going away, and Bolch is also right. We have a slight shifting of the terrain here. The popular prediction used to be "the WNBA will fold within X years", but it looks like the new line of thinking will be "the WNBA will never be as popular as (fill in male sport here)."
Good. All I care about is the WNBA surviving. I don't give a shit about whether or not it is considered a "fringe product" by the sportswriter cognoscenti. The print media hasn't given a damn about the WNBA for years and W fans have slowly learned how to return the favor.
Would we like to get on the front pages of the sport sections? Of course. But as long as 95 percent of sportswriters are guys and as long as 95 percent of the sport sections are devoted to guy sports, I don't see that happening. So whether or not they consider the W a "fringe product" doesn't bother me, because they consider everything other than college football, the NFL, the NBA and major league baseball a "fringe product". As long as we survive, they can keep opinionating,
Hersh must have hunted hard for that 24/7 prediction. He probably needed to find someone out there to predict the W's demise that wasn't a crazed blogger. He would have settled for Debbie Schlussel, but only if he absolutely had to, which is one step above quoting that crazed guy walking the street who's wearing a sandwich board which predicts imminent doom.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Atlanta @ Phoenix
During Atlanta's last six games, the Dream are 1-5. The only win out of those six was a home game against hapless Connecticut, the rest are all road losses against Western Conference teams, including last night's 82-76 loss to the Phoenix Mercury.
So why does Atlanta look so bad now? Sancho Lyttle was injured in the July 9th game against the Lynx. She had foot surgery on July 15th and is not expected to be back until early September. Sometime before the Seattle game, Tiffany Hayes injured her knee and is out indefinitely. Given that Ruth Riley averages 3.1 minutes per game, we have an eight player roster. Counting Courtney Clements, it's a seven player roster.
There are McCoughtry and de Souza, superstars and rightfully so. Armintie Herrington is a fine complementary player but cannot generate offense. Alex Bentley is a great rookie but still learning the WNBA game. Jasmine Thomas hasn't impressed me, and both Bentley and Thomas shoot under .400. Le'coe Willingham is here to provide some nebulous "leadership" but no offense. Aneika Henry is now on a milk carton somewhere.
Given all of that, what I can't figure out is how we started 10-1. I don't buy "scheduling" as the answer, we beat Chicago by 14 points so we are capable of beating good teams. But without Lyttle and Hayes, we just don't.
I wonder if the long stretches of time off have made us soft. The schedule gods hate us. The Dream hadn't played for 10 days before last night's game, the longest stretch of off-time for any team in the WNBA. It will be another seven days before we play Indiana at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Including Indiana, then we:
play 4 games in one week
play 8 games in two weeks
play 10 games for the remainder of August
The beginning of September don't look all that great either. Seven games in 15 days in September, finishing with four of the last five on the road. Lyttle will get a lot of chances to work on that foot. The way we're playing now, I have to look and see who we're better than.
Right now, we're not better than either Chicago or Indiana. I think we're better than Connecticut and New York. So that leaves us and Washington to fight it out for #3-#4. Which puts us in the same damned situation we were in 2010 and 2011 - having to fight our way without a home team advantage in the playoffs.
So what about last night? McCoughtry scored 33 points and 8 assists (seven TO though). De Souza picked up 16 points and 11 rebounds. In the battle between De Souza and Griner, I'd call De Souza as the winner. We won the battle of rebounding.
But Diana Taurasi had one of those outstanding games that she's famous for - 28 points and shooting about 50 percent. You can tell just by watching Taurasi that she hates to lose. In a lot of ways, Taurasi and McCoughtry are alike, but Taurasi's snit fits are seen as somehow charming and the sign of a real champion, whereas McCoughtry's are seen as her being an out-of-control, selfish player. There's an entire essay to be had in looking at how various players are perceived in the league even though they fill up the box scores in the same way.
Indeed, McCoughtry seems to be one of the reasons Atlanta is disliked by so many teams in the league. Previously, it was Meadors why so many fans dislike the Dream. They were pretty vocal about it, about how Carol Ross was supposedly the real talent behind Atlanta. And they've always disliked McCoughtry (although, truth be told, McCoughtry has never really helped herself). This year it's a very different McCoughtry but you only get one first impression.
I suspect it's also a matter of circumstance. When the Dream came along, the league lost Houston that same year (and we got Lyttle in the expansion draft), lost Sacramento the next year and ended up shipping Detroit off to Tulsa. They were three franchises with strong fan followings (*), and those fans had to watch Atlanta go to the Finals two years in a row while they were left with memories.
Why did we lose last night? Damned if I no. We just needed more from anyone who wasn't McCoughtry or de Souza, and we didn't get it. Señor Fred has a week to figure things out, and God bless him.
_____
(*) Houston and Sacramento shouldn't have closed. It wasn't the fans that screwed up, it was management. As for Detroit, they seem to have a hardcore fan base but could never get people to attend games - those crowds in Detroit were virtually empty. When Bill Davidson died, the Shock were going to follow, since Davidson was the only reason the Shock were alive at all. And now it looks like his estate is in some IRS trouble.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
San Antonio @ Minnesota
Performing at halftime was Naughty by Nature, the only act that would agree to perform for food.
I watched San Antonio @ Minnesota last night, where the Lynx kept it rolling with an 85-63 victory over the Silver Stars. It was a good game, but hard to get involved in.
My problem is that I want to impose a narrative on the game. With most WNBA games, this is easy, because one team is clearly worse than the other, and one can write the game up in one's own mind as "heroism of winning team/ineptitude of losing team", take your pick. Aside from an awful third quarter where they were outscored 17-9, San Antonio tried hard and played as best as they were able to. The problem was that Minnesota is an extremely good team, and having a good game won't guarantee a win against the Lynx, particularly when you throw away a quarter. As Dean Wormer might say, "Shooting 4-for-20 in the third is no way to go through life, Silver Stars."
(I'll have some more stats on throwing away quarters later, but I don't have my box scores sheet updated. If you're interested in what it looks like, you can always download the latest copy from the links to the right.)
If there are any stats I'd like to see in a non-standard box score, it's a GU stat - "gave up". Is there a way through APBRmetrics where you can define the point in the game where the losing team just throws up its hands and goes through the motions?
One way to do it might be to define the "20-20-20" players. These are the players that appear in a game when:
a) a team is 20 points ahead, or
b) a team is 20 points behind, or
c) there are only 20 seconds left in the game.
Since there are only about 110 games played in the season, it shouldn't be too much effort to go through the play-by-plays and see where the players with the least amount of minutes show up. Well, it wouldn't be too much effort for someone who had that amount of time on his hands. I have other fish to fry.
(* * *)
I expect today to be another moving and packing day. My wife and I are going to visit our future apartment, which has been vacated. My wife wants to measure things and I'm interested in tagging along. After that more rest and possibly working on the Box Scores spreadsheet.
Oh yes. And Atlanta @ Phoenix tonight. I think that game is on at 10 pm ET on NBA TV. The 10-day layoff would be the biggest layoff for any team this season, so let's see what teams can do on 10 days rest.
(* * *)
Remember way back when when I said I had two other projects keeping me from working on basketball? One was a writing messageboard and the other was a baseball simulation game?
It seems that the baseball simulation game is coming to an end. It was a wonderfully detailed universe, but it suffered the fault of one guy carrying the load. He stepped down to work on a novel, and no one has been able to pick up the slack.
Therefore, by August 11, one of three things shall be decided by the "core players", of which I am not one:
a) some new plan will be devised to keep the league alive, or
b) the league will run one more (simulated) "Goodbye!" season, or
c) the league will fold.
I've loved my time in the league, but I'd choose c), because it would give me a means of gracefully stepping down and freeing myself of this obligation. I promised myself I'd do three seasons and then I felt I could step away with no hard feelings. Hopefully, fate has changed that to one season.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Indiana @ Connecticut; more WNBA dreams
Get out of my dreams, Agler.
My time for various women's basketball projects might be further reduced. To say "why" requires a massive sort of post that I'm not quite ready to write. No bad news, rather, it would take some thought to give you the full background. Nothing bad, just 'it is what it is'.
Last night after coming back home from cheap Mexican food, I treated myself to a dose of Indiana visiting the Connecticut Sun. Tamika Catchings sat that game out for personal reasons (supposedly involving family issues) and I'm sure that most of the Fever and most of the crowd at Mohegan Sun arena wished they could have sat that one out too.
I came in late in the first quarter, and getting to the end of quarter #3 was a real slog. At the end of three quarters, the Sun had only shot 32.7 percent (17-for-52) compared to 51.1 percent for the visiting 8-player Fever squad. Indiana was up 52-41 despite a 4-for-11 performance at the free throw line. The Sun played so poorly I wondered if they would even break 50 points.
(Reminder: this is the team that Atlanta had its most recent win against.)
It's a good thing they played four quarters, because the fourth quarter made up for the other three. Indiana wilted in the fourth, at the Sun went on a 15-0 run that the Fever had no answer for. The run brought Connecticut down by 1, 52-51, and the home magic - of the Sun's five wins, four are at home - was enough to save the day. It was a case of a team snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Tan White and Allison Hightower scored most of their game points in that fourth quarter and really stepped up to provide a win for a team desperate for them.
I thought I had seen Indiana wilt in the fourth quarter before. So I ran some quarter-by-quarter averages. Here's what you get:
| 1q | 2q | 3q | 4q | 1ot | |
| ATL | 21.5 | 19.3 | 19.3 | 17.1 | 0.0 |
| CHI | 21.5 | 21.5 | 18.2 | 19.9 | 0.0 |
| CON | 15.9 | 17.3 | 18.6 | 18.9 | 0.0 |
| IND | 17.4 | 18.1 | 17.7 | 15.6 | 0.4 |
| NYL | 18.3 | 15.3 | 16.9 | 18.9 | 1.7 |
| WAS | 18.8 | 17.6 | 20.6 | 19.3 | 0.8 |
| LAS | 21.2 | 21.7 | 20.6 | 19.0 | 0.6 |
| MIN | 21.5 | 21.1 | 21.6 | 18.7 | 0.0 |
| PHO | 18.4 | 21.9 | 21.6 | 20.2 | 0.8 |
| SAS | 18.6 | 16.8 | 17.9 | 18.2 | 0.6 |
| SEA | 15.4 | 18.4 | 18.1 | 17.3 | 1.0 |
| TUL | 17.5 | 19.9 | 18.9 | 19.5 | 1.1 |
The numbers don't really prove anything. Yes, Indiana's production really drops quarter by quarter, but so does Atlanta's. Connecticut gets better quarter by quarter, but that's probably because the other team is well ahead and can throw in its scrubs.
However, I feel (but cannot prove) that Indiana just ran out of steam in the fourth. You had five players on the Indiana team playing 30 minutes, with Shavonte Zellous and Briann January playing 35. These players came from colleges that were probably 13-15 players deep, so I'm sure that Indiana's starters were pretty gassed.
There's an argument about roster expansion which says that there's no point in going to a 12-player or 13-player roster because the talent isn't there. What the proponents of that point don't realize is that when you don't, you not only sap the talent out of players who have to play 30+ minutes a night because they have no help, but you endanger their careers.
Yes, no one wants to see players 9 through 13 play the other squad's players 9 through 13. But those players 1 through 5 have got to have a chance to catch their breaths. Furthermore, when you have less than 10 healthy players, it adversely effects practices because you can't play squad on squad.
My prayer during the CBA negotiations is that the WNBA sucks it up and adds at least one more player to the roster. This 11-player cap is just ridiculous. Somehow, the league has got to make it happen. Else, you get Indiana vs. Connecticut.
(* * *)
Interesting quote by Charles, from Hoopfeed and David Siegel:
“It’s a frustrating season,” said Charles. “When you know your teammates’ capabilities, and when they’re not doing it, you get frustrated. When you see them in practice perform to the best of their abilities, and when it’s time, when it’s on the line, for them to perform and do their job, it gets really frustrating.”
(* * *)
Had my second WNBA dream last night. Why am I dreaming about the WNBA so much?
Anyway, I dreamed that I had been invited to pregame with the Atlanta Dream - I'd get to go into the locker rooms and everything. But when I got there, no one was there. I mean the place was empty. So I decided to hang around to wait for the Dream vs. Sky. But as it turned out, Atlanta was playing Chicago at Chicago, so I was waiting for nothing.
Then the Sky/Storm showed up and started having a team meeting. (It was the Sky, but with Brian Agler as head coach. There's Brian Agler again.) Everyone was sitting in a circle, and by some unnamed protocol that everyone knew but me, they started giving reports. I was in the circle, and didn't know what to say. So all I was left with to say was that I was an idiot who had been invited backstage with the Dream but the Dream were in Chicago.
I was also supposed to give Swin Cash some insulin. How that fits into the dream, I have no idea. If Swin Cash is reading this blog, I suggest that you have some blood work drawn up. Type II Diabetes is no fun.
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