If you didn't catch any Caps or Wizards games this season, then the most impressive thing about the Mystics' preseason 72-66 win tonight over the Houston Comets simply had to be your first sighting of the new, improved mega-Jumbotron. Heck, let's just call it The MEGATRON from now on! A mere "Jumbotron" just doesn't do it justice. It's GIANT! It's Digital! It's a first-of-its-kind indoor LED Hi-Def Scoreboard! Wow, from any seat in the house, you can see individual beads of sweat or whether a player is wearing eyeliner. Now that's impressive!
As for the game, that wasn't quite as impressive. Yes, the Mystics won. That was good. They finished the preseason 3-0. Also good. But the game was foul and turnover-ridden -- by both teams -- and lacked any real pace. It was somewhat typical of preseason play, but not especially entertaining.
Each team played without an All-Star. Alana Beard sat out for the Mystics, nursing a strained hamstring. Hopefully a few days rest will allow AB to suit up in time for Saturday's game. Hopefully, but not definitely. Tina Thompson did not make the trip for the Comets. Rookie Matee Ajavon kept the Comets in the game with her 26 points, including a long Hail Mary 3-pointer to end the first quarter. On the Mystics' side, Nakia Sanford led Washington with 14 points; Mo Currie added 12; and 8 of the 9 remaining players got on the scoreboard. Surprisingly, the only Mystics player who didn't score was sharp-shooter Laurie Koehn, who missed all 4 of her 3-point attempts!
For Maryland Fans . . . It was certainly a pleasure to see Crystal Langhorne make her Verizon Center debut. Lang came off the bench, scored 4 pts, pulled down 6 rbs, dished out 2 very pretty assists . . . plus she played de-fense! Who knew? (Just kidding, Coach B.) Altogether a pretty respectable effort for a rookie. Perhaps the coolest thing to report is that the Verizon Center store, Fan Gear, is stocking Langhorne #1 Mystics jerseys! The BasketCases got theirs and we weren't alone. If you don't have yours yet, we suggest you arrive early for the Mystics home opener on the 25th . . . and bring your credit card. Get one while supplies last!
So now the preseason is over, the slate is wiped clean, the Mystics are back to being 0-0 and are looking forward to notching their first win of the regular season against the Fever in Indy on Saturday.
Photo Credit: DC BasketCases
posted by BasketCases @ 11:35 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Inside the arena -- thousands of empty seats.
Outside the arena -- hundreds, if not thousands, of police officers and their families from all over the country, finishing up their Memorial Day services.
What's that spell? Another wasted PR/Community Service opportunity for the Mystics.
But the Megalotron was very sweet. Too bad they didn't show the Basket Cases.
Quote of the night has to be from Head Coach Karleen Thompson to the referees after a series of calls against her Comets team: "You're making us boring! Come on! We're an exciting team!"
With the Olympics break in schedule, is there an All-Star game this year?
Did they manage to correct Lang’s jersey? Please, please tell me they managed to correct Lang’s jersey. (Yes, I’m concerned. I’m starting to wonder if I’m turning into an NY Basketcase, because I’m not sure whether there were photos from the game at the Garden.)
The Megatron is most impressive, but if you start calling it that, I’ll expect it to try and take over the world, a la its counterpart in Transformers.
I'm fortunate enough to sit near the court and I noticed a definite case of whiplash for those of us who have to look up and up and up at the Mega Monster!! Still, I love the picture!! As much as the refs loved their whistles last night!!
It feels like we have a team that will play defense and rebound. Andrea Gardner from Howard led the nation in rebounding while in college, so she has skills, as does Lang!
Love The Tron! My only complaint is that the player stats and score are way high up on top of it, rather than at the bottom. If you're a scoreboard watcher, you need a neck brace.
Lang still had on her black and red hightops from Terpville - love that!
The arena was often so quiet that even those of us not sitting courtside could hear the ball bouncing and the players yammering at each other.
Totally agree about the lack of entertainment value last night. Oddly paced game, lots of errors. My highlight was watching Taj McW-F shove people around in the paint.
I first saw the "Megatron" at the Caps' first pre-season game and my jaw dropped. I wanted to take that thing home with me. So, the reaction I'm reading falls in line with what I was feeling when I first saw it. It was nice seeing Lang in the Mystics' colors. I gave Amber Jacobs a warm, DC welcome, telling her I was glad she's on the team -- by the way, Miss Jacobs grabbed a bunch of t-shirts after the game and threw them into the stands, one caught by yours truly. I didn't like all the turnovers, though. Very sloppy. Let's hope the ladies get it together before Saturday and give us an exciting summer. Go Mystics!
Rebecca:
Yes, the name on Lang's jersey was spelled correctly!! As it is on the jerseys they are selling!
-- BC
We wondered just how much the Megatron weighs. It is dang impressive.
I really try to not go on about the officiating, but that was pretty bad.
Refs were frustrating last night. I'm wondering if they were making an early statement: "we're going to call palming, so adjust your dribble..." It's not uncommon for refs to be really tight early in the season.
That said, what a choppy, boring game!
I just loved seeing C-Lang in that Mystics jersey... and yes, the first thing I did was pull out my credit card and purchase a Langhorne jersey!! Go Mystics!
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