My wife says the same thing. Natalie can be pretty snotty, but I guess that's what they're going for, a dramatic difference.

I noticed most of the mistakes in the basketball episode as well, and I haven't worked the sport since 1986.:)

My wife and I thought Sharona was becoming a pain-in-the-tookus who too often treated Monk pretty badly. On the other hand we find Natalie to be much more empathetic toward the unfortunate Mr Monk...she's much nicer to him than Sharona was.

BTW, did you realize that Sharona was the same actress from A League of their Own who Tom Hanks told "There's no crying in baseball"...She was Evelyn..

Jimmy Dugan: Evelyn, could you come here for a second? Which team do you play for?
Evelyn Gardner: Well, I'm a Peach.
Jimmy Dugan: Well I was just wonderin' why you would throw home when we got a two-run lead. You let the tying run get on second base and we lost the lead because of you. Start using your head. That's the lump that's three feet above your a$$.
[Evelyn starts to cry]
Jimmy Dugan: Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying, there's no crying in baseball. Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigsh*t. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry? NO. NO. And do you know why?
Evelyn Gardner: No, no, no.
Jimmy Dugan: Because there's no crying in baseball.

I thought Tom Hanks' portrayal of Jimmy Dugan was one of the best acting jobs of his career. I watch that movie every chance I get just to watch him. So, "Avoid the clap. That's good advice."

I loved Sharona, but Natalie is really growing on me. I'm not sure she's "nicer" to Monk that Sharona was (Natalie blew on Monk's whistle so that he'd stop blowing on it), but I like that she is really smart and actually solved the case in that episode. Up. . . you. . . go!