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Maya Moore was a force of nature today, tossing up 41 in the Lynx's last minute win over the Mercury in Phoenix today. It happened to be the first live WNBA game for my wife and me, and I thought maybe you'd like to hear some reactions, for whatever they're worth.
1. Geez, this is a game of stars. The teams seems to sense when one player is "on" and simply let that player carry the team. No one on the Lynx could get untracked at all except for Maya, so Maya did everything. And she was just as good as she was at UConn, smooth as silk and able to toss up shots that had no right going in. As my wife said, 'She moves more smoothly than the other players. doesn't she?'
2. Fowles and Augustus, world-class players, played like stiffs in the first half. Fowles had a few moments in the second half, but was not the player I expected to see. So Maya carried the show. On the Phoenix side, Griner was the one everyone paid attention to, though Currie is the star, for my money.
3. Brunson sure can disappear. I'm told she made the difference in the last game, but for a big body, she didn't score much and fouled a lot.That may have helped keep Griner in check, but she was not a difference-maker.
4. Renee Montgomery gets three minutes a game. In this one, she gave up a steal and bang, that was it. I don't think she has the coach's confidence. Ashja Jones played a fraction of a minute at the end of the first half. Is she hurt or just over the hill?
5. There are easily as many lapses of play as in the college game. There were a number of up-and-down, back-and-forth scrums that produced nothing but steals and badly missed shots. There was a shot clock violation. In a pro playoff game? Really?
6. The game is called very differently by the refs than the college game. There are lots of fouls, and many are obvious. But the refs let some things go while they call others that seem as ticky-tack as in the AAC. We'd have to see more games to get in the flow of what the refs are doing, and frankly, I'm not sure I want to do that.
7. As we were leaving, my wife said, 'I think I'd rather watch a good college game.' Actually, I was thinking I just prefer the college game, good or otherwise. At least with UConn, you see teamwork a lot more, and with other college teams, you often see attempted teamwork more.
In short, I'm glad I went -- to be able to say we did it -- but I don't think there was any basketball that was so memorable that it'll stay top of mind when I think about the day.
1. Geez, this is a game of stars. The teams seems to sense when one player is "on" and simply let that player carry the team. No one on the Lynx could get untracked at all except for Maya, so Maya did everything. And she was just as good as she was at UConn, smooth as silk and able to toss up shots that had no right going in. As my wife said, 'She moves more smoothly than the other players. doesn't she?'
2. Fowles and Augustus, world-class players, played like stiffs in the first half. Fowles had a few moments in the second half, but was not the player I expected to see. So Maya carried the show. On the Phoenix side, Griner was the one everyone paid attention to, though Currie is the star, for my money.
3. Brunson sure can disappear. I'm told she made the difference in the last game, but for a big body, she didn't score much and fouled a lot.That may have helped keep Griner in check, but she was not a difference-maker.
4. Renee Montgomery gets three minutes a game. In this one, she gave up a steal and bang, that was it. I don't think she has the coach's confidence. Ashja Jones played a fraction of a minute at the end of the first half. Is she hurt or just over the hill?
5. There are easily as many lapses of play as in the college game. There were a number of up-and-down, back-and-forth scrums that produced nothing but steals and badly missed shots. There was a shot clock violation. In a pro playoff game? Really?
6. The game is called very differently by the refs than the college game. There are lots of fouls, and many are obvious. But the refs let some things go while they call others that seem as ticky-tack as in the AAC. We'd have to see more games to get in the flow of what the refs are doing, and frankly, I'm not sure I want to do that.
7. As we were leaving, my wife said, 'I think I'd rather watch a good college game.' Actually, I was thinking I just prefer the college game, good or otherwise. At least with UConn, you see teamwork a lot more, and with other college teams, you often see attempted teamwork more.
In short, I'm glad I went -- to be able to say we did it -- but I don't think there was any basketball that was so memorable that it'll stay top of mind when I think about the day.
