[81alum]

Thanks, VG.  I thought the refs made a whole series of bad calls and non-calls in the second half--the replays that were shown at Maples seemed to confirm their bad calls every time and elicited resounding boos.  Of course the crowd was partisan--although the Maples crowd has been know not to boo with some replays.  But it almost seemed to me that--subconsciously perhaps--the refs were trying to prove they could not be influenced by the partisan home crowd, rather than calling the game objectively.

I took a look through the play by play to see if I could tell if our 3 40+ minute players were fatigued, and it sure looks like that could be part of it:

1. Toni was 6/10 in the first 30 minutes of the game, and 0/5 in the last 15 minutes. 

2. Even more telling was Nneka.  Nneka make her last basket with 12:13 left in regulation--on that fast break layup that Toni fed to her.  After that point she had two turnovers and two misses, and did not even take a shot in overtime.  I think that says something when the game is on the line and your star senior player does not take a shot.

3. Chiney was 8/12 with 8:23 left in regulation.  She went 1/4 the rest of the game.  That one basket was vital--our only overtime basket.

Much of this was probably the zone that VG pointed out.  But Chiney and Nneka and Toni did begin to look tired to me, and for one reason or another their shooting certainly dropped off a cliff.

I do wonder whether Nneka was even at 70% today.  Perhaps she really was ill or hurt and was bravely gutting it out, since if the opposition does not know the inside story she will still serve as a supremely good decoy.  Can we read that interpretation into what she said?

"Teams can pick their poison but they'll be poisoned by something else. I have faith in my teammates."

[81alum]

Thanks, VG.  I thought the refs made a whole series of bad calls and non-calls in the second half--the replays that were shown at Maples seemed to confirm their bad calls every time and elicited resounding boos.  Of course the crowd was partisan--although the Maples crowd has been know not to boo with some replays.  But it almost seemed to me that--subconsciously perhaps--the refs were trying to prove they could not be influenced by the partisan home crowd, rather than calling the game objectively.

I took a look through the play by play to see if I could tell if our 3 40+ minute players were fatigued, and it sure looks like that could be part of it:

1. Toni was 6/10 in the first 30 minutes of the game, and 0/5 in the last 15 minutes. 

2. Even more telling was Nneka.  Nneka make her last basket with 12:13 left in regulation--on that fast break layup that Toni fed to her.  After that point she had two turnovers and two misses, and did not even take a shot in overtime.  I think that says something when the game is on the line and your star senior player does not take a shot.

3. Chiney was 8/12 with 8:23 left in regulation.  She went 1/4 the rest of the game.  That one basket was vital--our only overtime basket.

Much of this was probably the zone that VG pointed out.  But Chiney and Nneka and Toni did begin to look tired to me, and for one reason or another their shooting certainly dropped off a cliff.

I do wonder whether Nneka was even at 70% today.  Perhaps she really was ill or hurt and was bravely gutting it out, since if the opposition does not know the inside story she will still serve as a supremely good decoy.  Can we read that interpretation into what she said?

"Teams can pick their poison but they'll be poisoned by something else. I have faith in my teammates."