No Finish . . . AgainFor the third straight game, the Mystics came within inches of the finish line only to stumble down the stretch.
Tonight's failure took place at the Prudential Center in New Jersey, as the Mystics lost to the Liberty, 75-71, in their first meeting of the season. Another close, tightly contested, and winnable game . . . that the Mystics didn't find a way to win.
Of course it didn't help the Mystics' cause that a made basket was taken away on a very questionable charge call (on Kerri Gardin) in the final minute. Had the call gone the other way, that would've given Washington a one-point lead (plus the and-one) with about half a minute remaining. Still, the Mystics had another chance to finally close out a game. Down by 2, they got the ball back with enough time left (9 seconds) to tie or take the lead. But Jasmine Thomas threw the ball away, and that was the game. Turnovers happen, and Jas is a rookie. We understand that. What we have a harder time understanding is why Kelly Miller, an experienced veteran -- who had a hot hand tonight (17 points) -- was cooling her heels on the bench during the crucial final four-and-a-half minutes of the game.
The Mystics have now dropped to 3-13, and can no longer even equal their 2010 regular season record. Tomorrow (Friday) night, they return home for the second half of their back-to-back, and will take on the Indiana Fever, which has beaten them in the two games they've played this season.
posted by BasketCases @ 10:23 PM
18 comments
18 Comments:
Why was Kelly Miller out during the final minutes of the game? I don't understand the coaching moves. We had a strong chance of winning this game. What was the call at the end - to throw the ball away???????
Can someone PLEASE tell me why Kelly wasn't in the game at the end. I like Jasmine but clearly she was having problems with Essence all game. It happens, so put Kelly is since she was having such a good game. Give your team a chance to win with the players that were having the most success all game. Makes no sense. Great coaching job Trudy. Good grief. Dumb.
Tough loss, gotta learn to play with a lead, but we're a young team.
Does that cover it?
Yeah, you covered it Coach Trudy.
It just seems to me that Trudy is trying to lose these games. I wouldn't think that Marianne would advise her to leave Kelly on the bench when you are so close to a win. Of course having to worry about how much money you can save on players, leaves little time to think about how to win a game.
Why have the ball in a rookie's hands at the end of the game? Kelly Miller was held out way too long. She is an experienced player and used to final minutes of games. The "Young team" excuse has been given as to our end of the game losses. So why have the ball in a rookie's hands in the final seconds? Dumb coaching. Poor girls.
I too was shocked that Thomas was in at crunch time. I didn't mind, though. ;)
The officiating was dicey in the first half, and nothing says bad no-call like a player doubled up on the center court logo, so my heart does not exactly bleed for Kerri Gardin here.
But I can't say enough about Crystal Langhorne's effort and positioning. I appreciate the way she works around and through bigger players.
I like Jasmine Thomas. I'm actually surprised she is playing as well as she is in most games. I was never impressed with her in college. But, I think I was wrong, and she is going to turn out to be pretty good. However-last night she was clearly struggling against Essence Carson. The smart coaching decision would have been to put Kelly Miller back in the game because Jasmine was struggling so much for whatever reason. Kelly had the hot hand shooting wise also. Just dumb.
@12:57 am - I don't think Marianne has much influence on Trudi's in-game decisions.
Might as well keep losing and see who we can get in the draft. Course, we'll probably get a high draft pick and then trade them away!
Even through all our losing seasons of years past, we had fun at games. This management has managed to suck the joy out of these games for me.
But no, I won't let them. I love seeing women play basketball in the US, at a professional level---if only the management could act as professionally as the players.
I agree that Marianne probably has little influence on Trudi's coaching. Marianne never seems like she is doing much. Wonder what Trudi is really thinking after each of these games? Not what she says at the post game interview I'd bet. Think she would be embarrassed at so many losses in a row. The gm/coach seems to be more on her plate than she can handle.
As anonymous said above, it almost looks as though Trudi is trying to lose. She simply can't be that dumb or can she?
There's no use in tanking. We gave away our pick to Minny for Anosike. What the...
I don't mind Thomas having more minutes. I feel she has earned them, but not at the end of a tight yet winnable game. Your vets should be playing.
When Trudi was named HC during the off season. I knew then I was not going to purchase season tickets. I saw what she did to the Stings and was suprised that Sheila didn't put any efford in finding the best coach available to keep the wheels turning. I know we've had too many coaching changes in the past and that is sad. Its time for a change to come at a much higher level.
Some of us had already purchased season tickets last August when we thought we were going to be seeing more of what we had enjoyed in the previous season. If I had known Julie was out of there, no tickets would have been purchased. No refunds were available either. Apparently,they really needed my cash. Sheila didn't want to find the best coach just the on that would settle for the salary she was willing to pay for two jobs. Julie is too smart for that deal!
This was Trudi's worse coaching job of the season. To leave Thomas in there when she was having all sorts of trouble...unforgivable. She should have been fired first thing this morning.
Hoping for a win tonight and Sat. What is Angela Taylor doing these days?
Great game but we lost. :( The game was mostly nip and tuck, the Mystic players played well. GO MYSTICS!
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