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New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud isn't once to mince words, and she held nothing back after New York defeated the Minnesota Lynx, 85-75, Tuesday night at Barclays Center.
It was the Liberty's first win over the Lynx this season in four tries, and it came after Lynx players sounded off last week about their feelings toward the Liberty, including Courtney Williams calling them a “punk-a**” team.
“I know Minny loves to talk about us a lot,” Cloud said. “We live rent-free, but this is another game of just really feeling good about ourselves.”
Cloud finished the game with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists as the Liberty led almost wire to wire, playing with intensity and focus for a full 40 minutes.
“From offense to defense tonight was Liberty basketball, and that's what I'm most happy about,” she continued. “I don't give a f**k about all that off-the-court s**t, like you can keep talking whatever, but we're really focused on these last 10, now nine games to feel good about ourselves.”
Tuesday marked the final time that the Liberty and Lynx will play each other in the regular season, but provided both teams can get healthy, a finals rematch is certainly on the table.
Liberty's Natasha Cloud seeks ‘accountability' from refs
It wasn't all smooth sailing for Cloud on Tuesday. She earned her sixth technical foul of the season early in the third quarter after Jonquel Jones committed an offensive foul. Without the benefit of hearing from referee Roy Gulbeyan, who called the technical, we can't know for sure why he blew the whistle.
But according to Cloud, she did nothing wrong.
“I think that we just need to have a real accountability with our refs as well about what it means to be soft in the middle of a game,” she said. “I didn't say a cuss. I didn't come at him. I didn't aggressively approach him. I just said her knee has to move while I'm demonstrating [the foul against Jones].”
Cloud also echoed what Liberty coach Sandy Brondello has said multiple times: She does not believe Jones gets a fair whistle.
“I feel like [it’s] disrespect to [Jones], the amount of times that she gets beaten up under the f***ing post, and it's not a secret to anyone,” Cloud said.
On Tuesday, the Lynx were called for 16 fouls and the Liberty for 10, but New York players and coaches bemoaned the officiating over the weekend when Minnesota took 33 free throws and the Liberty attempted eight. Cloud brought that up as well.
‘I know tonight we got some foul calls, but 33 to eight in our last game is asinine,” she said. “So, when you're talking about [how] we are frustrated that we're not getting certain calls, I'm gonna continue to advocate.”
In her continued call for accountability, Cloud brought up her delay of game call, which came just two minutes later after a kick ball.
“[Gulbeyan] even gave me a delay of game later for not giving him the ball, and it's not my job to give you the ball,” she said. “I just think that with some of our seasoned refs, do we have it in us to still be here or are we done? Because if you're not gonna continue to try to have relationships with us, then I don't really know what we're doing here.”
