Atlanta Dream Free Agency Breakdown: de Souza Expected to Re-sign, Searching for Veteran Point Guard
by Q McCall on Feb 8, 2010 9:07 AM EST
in WNBA
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Nobody expects much from an expansion franchise in their first few years of existence, so even after the Atlanta Dream’s somewhat nightmarish debut season in 2008, coach Marynell Meadors remained positive.
Atlanta Dream's turnaround ends with franchise's first playoff berth - ESPN
Still, coach and general manager Marynell Meadors was all about the "bright side" of the expansion season. Such as the games in which the Dream were competitive, even if they didn't win. And the foothold the franchise started to develop in Atlanta. She had ideas of how to improve, and she knew she'd have a very high draft pick in April to help.
Hope for the future turned into change on the court much more quickly for the Dream than anybody might have imagined. After a 4-30 record in 2008, the Dream finished 2009 at 18-16, making the playoffs for the first time. Had it not been for injuries to starters Chamique Holdsclaw and Shalee Lehning down the stretch, the Dream might not only have had a better record, but also made a deep playoff run.
“We had two of our starting five out of the lineup when we went to the playoffs last year, which I thought was a tremendous detriment and probably cost us maybe moving on to the second round,” said Meadors in an interview with Swish Appeal last week. “I don’t know whether we have or not, but I thought we would have definitely had a better chance of doing that.”
So one can probably imagine that Meadors has high hopes for 2010 and for good reason.
“We want to be the best,” said Meadors when asked about her expectations for this year. “We’re going to play to win and we’re certainly dreaming to make a difference – that’s kind of our [motto] this year.”
One reason for increased optimism in the franchise's third year is that they will have arguably the best post rotation in the league, with Los Angeles Sparks legend Lisa Leslie retired and Meadors expecting to re-sign free agent center Erika de Souza. de Souza and Sancho Lyttle were named to the 2009 Eastern Conference All-Star team and reserve center Michelle Snow is among the most athletic post players in the league. So as much as the second season turnaround was the outcome of a revamped team – three starters (Holdsclaw, Lehning, Lyttle) were new to the team in 2010 – it can be said without reservation that their post play carried the team.
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Just knowing Kathy Betty the short time that I’ve known her, she’s competitive, she’s energetic, she’s a winner. She wants to do what we have to do to win the championship and she wants to do it as fast as she can.
-- Atlanta Dream coach Marynell Meadors on new owner Kathy Betty in a phone interview with Swish Appeal last week.
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Bonvicini, Seattle Honor Kay Yow: How Can We Preserve the Humanity of a Legend?
by Q McCall on Feb 7, 2010 12:48 PM EST
in Sports & Society
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During her halftime speech at Seattle University about breast cancer prevention yesterday, cancer survivor and KIRO news anchor Michelle Millman briefly mentioned that this Pink Zone game took on additional meaning because coach Joan Bonvicini, a friend of Kay Yow, was present on the sidelines.
"I’ve known her since I first started coaching and she was a great, great coach – an Olympic coach, she coached one of my players on the Olympic team," said Bonvicini of her friend after the Redhawks’ 52-42 win over the University of South Dakota. "But as great a coach as she was, she was a better person."
After opening with how special it was to speak at this particular Pink Zone event, Millman briefly described her own struggle with cancer, cracked a joke about taking her hat off, and then informed the crowd that she would have her final chemotherapy session on Monday to a round of applause. A few moments later, she transitioned from her personal story to talking specifically about what college students to do to raise awareness and prevent breast cancer, saying she wasn’t there to talk about her individual experience.
Sitting feet from where Millman stood, I was struck by her transition from the personal significance of the event to the advocacy of the Kay Yow Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Of course, it was understandable – she had a time limit, had a message to deliver, and probably wanted to leave people with something to act upon. Nevertheless, I found the transition – and the fact that the radio announcer sitting next to me began his halftime rundown during her speech – somewhat jarring.
On the one hand, she opened by explaining the personal significance of the moment by acknowledging Bonvicini’s friendship and giving the audience an account of her own struggle with breast cancer. On the other hand, she quickly moved to rather impersonal advocacy for a cause that was obviously related to her experience and that of Yow, but somewhat detached. It’s not that she did anything "wrong", but as someone not as familiar with Yow or Millman, I found the personal stories more compelling, if not more refreshing, than the advocacy.
Perhaps that sounds obvious – everyone loves a good story and the fact is that Kay Yow has a great one, whether you are interested in basketball, cancer research, or human life.
"She had this battle with breast cancer and actually the first time she was diagnosed was like a year before the Olympics," said Bonvicini. "And it came back, went into remission, and it came back again in 2000, and then like 2008 again. But she was public about everything so she inspired – obviously coaches – so many people with her message."
But what I found interesting about Millman’s speech is this tension between honoring the life of Yow and honoring the cause she represents through advocacy.
Having never watched Yow’s teams play, seen her in person, or spoken to her, my opinion of her has been shaped almost entirely by the well-crafted narrative about what she stands for and imagery designed to promote awareness of breast cancer. She – and more specifically, her story – has become at various times and places a cause, a commodity, an icon, or a theme for an event.
And it’s a phenomenon I always find problematic.
Something gets lost in the retelling of retold stories that seems to stand in stark contrast to what I understand to be the dynamic personality of Yow. The problem is underneath the message, the legend, and the cause is a person that continued to stay strong even when life dealt her every reason to give in. There seems to be something stifling about the way we elevate people to iconic status, reducing the complexity of human life to a single cause.
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You know -- as an educator, I'm all for full, quality participation. There's a pedagogical reason behind having that sort of athletics in our schools. There's also a strong pedagogical reason for having competition and excellence.
What you have here in UConn is excellence. What you've had in Tennessee is excellence (and still have - remember who won two in a row recently?). What you had with LaTech, with Delta State, with the Mighty Macs, with Nashville Business College, with Des Moines American Institute of Business, with Wayland Baptist, with Dallas Cyclones is excellence.
You know what is bad for women's basketball? That so many will find the names mentioned above unfamiliar.
-- from Helen at Women's Hoops Blog.
And to extend: pedagogically, there is no better way to encourage growth than setting the standard high and holding everybody accountable to it. It's anti-competitive and detrimental to suggest that there's something wrong with having a high standard.
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Cal, UCLA Set Record for Fewest Total Points Scored: "Isn’t this why they invented the shot clock?"
by Q McCall on Feb 6, 2010 9:26 PM EST
in NCAA: Pac-10
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Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that University of California guard Alexis Gray-Lawson scored more than 39 points in consecutive games (47 points @ Oregon State University, 39 v. University of Arizona)? So how on earth did the team only manage 32 against UCLA?
Just following the game thread on California Golden Blogs is painful: "Isn’t this why they invented the shot clock?"
Perhaps the press release is even more depressing:
UCLA Downs California, 44-32 - UCLA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Cal scored the game's first eight points, keeping UCLA off the scoreboard until Christina Nzekwe made a free throw at the 10:01 mark. The Bruins missed their first 12 field goals of the game before Dixon finally hit a jumper at 9:20. The tables turned for Cal, however, as the Golden Bears did not score for the final 11 minutes of the half, allowing UCLA to not only get back into the game, but take the lead. The Bruins used a 14-0 run to end the half with a 14-8 lead. Nina Earl had seven of the Bruins' 14 points in the scoring run. The Golden Bears shot a paltry 8.7% (2-for-23) from the field in the half. UCLA did not fare much better, shooting 20% on 5-for-25 shooting.
That does not necessarily constitute a "defensive battle" -- it's just bad basketball any way you cut it.
Games like this -- along with Arizona State University's 66-62 loss to previously winless Washington State University and the University of Washington's 30 point loss to the University of Arizona -- does not bode well for Pac-10 RPI come tournament time...
Update: The game is a UCLA record for fewest total points, fewest opponent points, and fewest points in a win. Working on determining the Pac-10 record.
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Extra Extra! Jayne Appel Thrown Out of Game for First Time Ever!
by C and R on Feb 5, 2010 4:32 PM EST
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Post players are often taught to keep the ball high and elbows out. So how did Appel get a T?
(Photo by Craig Bennett/112575 Media)
So C and R were sitting there watching a perfectly normal Stanford women’s basketball game vs UCLA when the abnormal happened. Jayne Appel got ejected from the game in the second half! Jayne? Our Jayne? Our mild-mannered, everyone loves Jayne, Jayne? The Jayne who had a foot infection and wasn’t even supposed to play tonight Jayne?
When C and R saw Jayne run to the locker room we looked at each other. We have never seen Jayne thrown out of a game in her four years here. We looked away and then back at each other and then said we can’t remember a Stanford player EVER getting thrown out of a game in all the years R has been going (She has had season tickets longer than she has known C). Head Coach Tara VanDerveer said the same thing the next day, that in her 24 years of coaching, she’s never had a player thrown out.
And it did seem like a normal PAC-10 game. UCLA came out scrappy and hustling, and in a man-to man press. We took an early lead, let them come back and take the lead, then we had a slight lead at half, then came back and pounded them in the second half to win 74-53. You know, typical game for us against a PAC-10 foe, as it has happened three times in a row now.
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Photo Gallery: Arizona State vs. Washington - 2/4/10
by Q McCall on Feb 5, 2010 11:46 AM EST
in NCAA: Pac-10
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Photo by Max Simbron
Huskies | Washington women fall to Arizona State in overtime, 67-61 | Seattle Times Newspaper
TEMPE, Ariz. — Kayli Murphy scored a career-high 16 points and went 5 for 6 from the free-throw line in overtime to help Arizona State beat the Washington women 67-61 on Thursday night.
Murphy added 11 rebounds for her third career double-double. She had three assists, three steals and a block as the Sun Devils (14-7, 6-4 Pac-10) won for the fifth time in six games.
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Thibault Confirms UConn's Charles Will Be Drafted #1 By the Connecticut Sun
by Q McCall on Feb 4, 2010 10:23 PM EST
in WNBA
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In his interview with Swish Appeal this week, Connecticut Sun Head Coach Mike Thibault ended all speculation about who his team intends to draft with the number 1 overall pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft.
"I would think it would have to be something crazy that I can't even fathom right now that would make us change our mind," said Thibault when asked about drafting Charles in a phone interview with Swish Appeal Wednesday. "She's the reason we made the deal and she's clearly the number one pick. It's a pretty easy choice for us."
The Sun acquired the number 1 pick and former UConn guard Renee Montgomery from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for point guard and Minnesota native Lindsay Whalen and the 2nd pick.
It had been assumed since the deal was first announced that the Sun would reunite the successful pair that played so well together just 23 miles down the road at the University of Connecticut. Now Husky, Sun and all WNBA fans have the confirmation they've been waiting for.
For more on the Sun, please see the interview with Mike Thibault.
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