Wednesday, September 30, 2009
USA Basketball gets rolling!
The National team is getting down to business, as of today. Angel McCoughtry (rumored to be the WNBA's Rookie of the Year) tweeted about it, for one. It sounds like players are excited.
Brea Olinda at the Run and Gun League
Brea Olinda are newcomers to the Lynwood league. I popped in tonight to check out the reigning state champs.
Coach Jeff Sink arrived slightly late, Diet Coke in hand. I finally got to meet him, and it was a pleasure.
Brea whooped on their opponents, for the most part, except for the fiesty Gahr. I need to talk to Sink about who his new players are.
On the sidelines it's a social event with players (past and present), coaches and other members of the LA-area basketball family yapping it up, including yours truly. It's great to see the kids growing up. I left almost 45 minutes after I'd planned to. But it was worth it.
One Brea Olinda team warms up under the basket before the first game. They've got some tall girls this year.
Brea Coach Jeff Sink got a little lost, so assistant coach Steve Steele (black shirt) coached both Brea games for a little bit.
The Ladycats' game against Gahr was very physical.
Gahr did a good job and didn't lose by much to the state champs.
Gahr has a superstar freshman, Jewelyn Janelle Sawyer, above. The girl was doing everything a tall player should - getting boards, putting up layups and shots, even stealing the ball. I'll be keeping my eye on her.
Sink addresses his team before their second game in a row.
Jeanier Olukemi watches the action during the other Brea team's second game. She was ballin' it up all night. I wonder how many college letters she's got?
Sink watches his Ladycats.
Coach Jeff Sink arrived slightly late, Diet Coke in hand. I finally got to meet him, and it was a pleasure.
Brea whooped on their opponents, for the most part, except for the fiesty Gahr. I need to talk to Sink about who his new players are.
On the sidelines it's a social event with players (past and present), coaches and other members of the LA-area basketball family yapping it up, including yours truly. It's great to see the kids growing up. I left almost 45 minutes after I'd planned to. But it was worth it.
One Brea Olinda team warms up under the basket before the first game. They've got some tall girls this year.
Brea Coach Jeff Sink got a little lost, so assistant coach Steve Steele (black shirt) coached both Brea games for a little bit.
The Ladycats' game against Gahr was very physical.
Gahr did a good job and didn't lose by much to the state champs.
Gahr has a superstar freshman, Jewelyn Janelle Sawyer, above. The girl was doing everything a tall player should - getting boards, putting up layups and shots, even stealing the ball. I'll be keeping my eye on her.
Sink addresses his team before their second game in a row.
Jeanier Olukemi watches the action during the other Brea team's second game. She was ballin' it up all night. I wonder how many college letters she's got?
Sink watches his Ladycats.
Uh oh, it's another Michael T White Tournament at Mater Dei High School
Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?
MMM MMM MMM!
Other LA-area high school tourneys this weekend are the USJN Swish Tournament and the FBC Tournament at the HAX.
MMM MMM MMM!
Other LA-area high school tourneys this weekend are the USJN Swish Tournament and the FBC Tournament at the HAX.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
120-116!
Tonight's game one thriller was the highest-scoring game in regular or playoff season in WNBA history. That box score is fascinating. On both teams, players really stepped up when a couple of their teammates were having an off-night. Wow.
If games 2-5 are like this one, we will be in for some butt-clenching.
The other day, Indiana Pacers GM Larry Bird bought out the balcony of Conseco Fieldhouse for the Fever's final conference game. Tonight Phoneix Suns GM Steve Kerr bought out the upper level of the US Airways Center. I love these guys!
This was a big news day even before the game.
Earlier today, Diana Taurasi was named WNBA MVP.
ESPN's Mechelle Voepel talked with Taurasi, who has been at her lowest with a drunk-driving arrest in June, to her highest now.
And the Indy Star has a beautific piece on Tamika Catchings.
The Sparks' Tina Thompson signed a three-year contract with the organization earlier this year, but now says she doesn't know if she will be back next year.
In fact, the LA Times report that the Sparks as a team has an uncertain future.
If games 2-5 are like this one, we will be in for some butt-clenching.
The other day, Indiana Pacers GM Larry Bird bought out the balcony of Conseco Fieldhouse for the Fever's final conference game. Tonight Phoneix Suns GM Steve Kerr bought out the upper level of the US Airways Center. I love these guys!
This was a big news day even before the game.
Earlier today, Diana Taurasi was named WNBA MVP.
ESPN's Mechelle Voepel talked with Taurasi, who has been at her lowest with a drunk-driving arrest in June, to her highest now.
And the Indy Star has a beautific piece on Tamika Catchings.
The Sparks' Tina Thompson signed a three-year contract with the organization earlier this year, but now says she doesn't know if she will be back next year.
In fact, the LA Times report that the Sparks as a team has an uncertain future.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Run and Gun Fall League at Lynwood High School, Lynwood, CA
One of the longest-running, and perhaps highest-quality fall leagues began tonight: the Run and Gun League in Lynwood. It runs Monday and Wednesday nights from late September through the first few days in November, and features a collection of high-caliber teams.
This year:
Bishop Amat
Carson (2 teams)
Garfield (2 teams)
J Serra
Long Beach Poly (3 teams)
Long Beach Jordan (2 teams)
Lynwood (2 teams)
Mayfair
Narbonne (2 teams)
Brea Olinda (2 teams)
Downey
Edison
Gahr
Norwalk
Saint Monica
The team I coached with a few years ago participated in this league, and it's fun. There are four games on three courts - 6, 7, 8, and 9 p.m. - for a total of 12 games per night. As a spectator it's fun to be able to bounce between games.
Tonight I caught the Long Beach Poly-Long Beach Jordan matchup. Poly won, of course, but Jordan had some bright spots.
Oregon State Coach LaVonda Wagner was there, as was seemingly everyone else in the LA basketball family/community. It was nice to see some people again.
I'd like to give a shout out to Jose, who is the father of a player on one of the teams there tonight. He walked right up to me and asked me if I wrote the Hoopism blog. Said he thought he'd spotted me at the Watts Games a few months back. Good eye, Jose! Nice to meet you.
I'll be covering more of this tournament, but here's a start. The lighting at Lynwood High isn't the greatest, so neither are the pictures. But I'll work on it.
Bracket is downloadable at the bottom of this page.
Long Beach Poly (green) and Long Beach Jordan players battle for a rebound.
Thanks in part to their strong defense, Poly beat Jordan handily.
Poly's Ariyah Crook-Williams, previously mentioned in this space, walks up the court.
This year:
Bishop Amat
Carson (2 teams)
Garfield (2 teams)
J Serra
Long Beach Poly (3 teams)
Long Beach Jordan (2 teams)
Lynwood (2 teams)
Mayfair
Narbonne (2 teams)
Brea Olinda (2 teams)
Downey
Edison
Gahr
Norwalk
Saint Monica
The team I coached with a few years ago participated in this league, and it's fun. There are four games on three courts - 6, 7, 8, and 9 p.m. - for a total of 12 games per night. As a spectator it's fun to be able to bounce between games.
Tonight I caught the Long Beach Poly-Long Beach Jordan matchup. Poly won, of course, but Jordan had some bright spots.
Oregon State Coach LaVonda Wagner was there, as was seemingly everyone else in the LA basketball family/community. It was nice to see some people again.
I'd like to give a shout out to Jose, who is the father of a player on one of the teams there tonight. He walked right up to me and asked me if I wrote the Hoopism blog. Said he thought he'd spotted me at the Watts Games a few months back. Good eye, Jose! Nice to meet you.
I'll be covering more of this tournament, but here's a start. The lighting at Lynwood High isn't the greatest, so neither are the pictures. But I'll work on it.
Bracket is downloadable at the bottom of this page.
Long Beach Poly (green) and Long Beach Jordan players battle for a rebound.
Thanks in part to their strong defense, Poly beat Jordan handily.
Poly's Ariyah Crook-Williams, previously mentioned in this space, walks up the court.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Ronika Ransford will choose University of Georgia
Fresh from an email sent to me a short time ago by Frank Oliver Jr., coach of the H.D. Woodson High School Lady Warriors in D.C.:
Ronika Ransford will verbal to the University of Georgia after her official visit this weekend. She had officially visited Rutgers and Kentucky. She was scheduled to visit Cal and Louisville but made her decision Saturday night in Athens.
She said she "felt as if Coach (Andy) Landers could help me reach my full potential, and saw it as great opproutunity to become a better person on and off the court and mature as a young woman."
Her H.D. Woodson High School Coach Frank Oliver, Jr. said, "She is a great student of the game and has a high basketball I.Q. to go along with exceptional skills and atheltic ability. There is no doubt in my mind she will make a major impact at the next level."
Ransford is looking to lead Woodson to their fifth consectutive D.C.I.A.A. League title and Third Consectutive D.C. City Title this year, vs. The W.C.A.C. Champions. The Lady Warriors currently own a 58-game league winning streak in which Ransford's senior class, including Courtney Cayard and Shanice Parker, have never lost a league game.
I wrote a story on the team last fall and talked to several of the players on the phone after speaking with Oliver. They're a family-like bunch. Hope they have a good season this year.
Ronika Ransford will verbal to the University of Georgia after her official visit this weekend. She had officially visited Rutgers and Kentucky. She was scheduled to visit Cal and Louisville but made her decision Saturday night in Athens.
She said she "felt as if Coach (Andy) Landers could help me reach my full potential, and saw it as great opproutunity to become a better person on and off the court and mature as a young woman."
Her H.D. Woodson High School Coach Frank Oliver, Jr. said, "She is a great student of the game and has a high basketball I.Q. to go along with exceptional skills and atheltic ability. There is no doubt in my mind she will make a major impact at the next level."
Ransford is looking to lead Woodson to their fifth consectutive D.C.I.A.A. League title and Third Consectutive D.C. City Title this year, vs. The W.C.A.C. Champions. The Lady Warriors currently own a 58-game league winning streak in which Ransford's senior class, including Courtney Cayard and Shanice Parker, have never lost a league game.
I wrote a story on the team last fall and talked to several of the players on the phone after speaking with Oliver. They're a family-like bunch. Hope they have a good season this year.
Lisa Leslie says WNBA players "need to look like women"
In her post-game interview last night, now-retired center Lisa Leslie made the following comments about WNBA players:
Leslie: "Also another important message is how we represent ourselves as women. We need to look like women; it's important how we carry ourselves, how we dress on and off the court. A lot of these things have to be addressed and continue to be addressed because we are the product, and it's important.
People want to see a good product. They do. That's just the bottom line. And you need to be marketable and I think that more women need to understand that here in our league."
(Video is on this page).
In a business sense, Leslie is correct in that the WNBA is a product that has to be marketable. But her implications are way off base.
She doesn't explain what "looking like women" means in her mind, but it's indicative by her own dress: hair ribbons on the court and femmey clothing off of it. That's her style and it works for her, but that's not the style of all WNBA players.
Take Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles. Both wear boyish and/or men's clothing because that's their style, and they make it look damn good. Putting a bow in the hair of either woman would look ridiculous and contrived, as would seeing them in the short-shorts Leslie has been photographed in around her home. It's not them, and to pretend it is would be a lie.
Her own teammate Betty Lennox - who Leslie seems to get along with extremely well - also isn't a girly girl in any way. Does Leslie think Betty should get all dolled up like her?
I chided Leslie in this space earlier in the season when she was quoted in a Sparks game program giving herself props for maintaining her femininity over her long career. I'm going to repeat myself here: if being feminine is your style and your personality, go fot it. But if it's not, don't do it. Just be yourself.
Women have a hard time being ourselves, and other places in the world are much worse. I wish Leslie, with all her influence, had said instead: there's a place in the WNBA for every great player, whether she's a tomboy, a foofoo, or somewhere in between. You are perfectly wonderful just the way you are.
You missed a great opportunity to give girls some validation as people, Lisa Leslie.
Leslie: "Also another important message is how we represent ourselves as women. We need to look like women; it's important how we carry ourselves, how we dress on and off the court. A lot of these things have to be addressed and continue to be addressed because we are the product, and it's important.
People want to see a good product. They do. That's just the bottom line. And you need to be marketable and I think that more women need to understand that here in our league."
(Video is on this page).
In a business sense, Leslie is correct in that the WNBA is a product that has to be marketable. But her implications are way off base.
She doesn't explain what "looking like women" means in her mind, but it's indicative by her own dress: hair ribbons on the court and femmey clothing off of it. That's her style and it works for her, but that's not the style of all WNBA players.
Take Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles. Both wear boyish and/or men's clothing because that's their style, and they make it look damn good. Putting a bow in the hair of either woman would look ridiculous and contrived, as would seeing them in the short-shorts Leslie has been photographed in around her home. It's not them, and to pretend it is would be a lie.
Her own teammate Betty Lennox - who Leslie seems to get along with extremely well - also isn't a girly girl in any way. Does Leslie think Betty should get all dolled up like her?
I chided Leslie in this space earlier in the season when she was quoted in a Sparks game program giving herself props for maintaining her femininity over her long career. I'm going to repeat myself here: if being feminine is your style and your personality, go fot it. But if it's not, don't do it. Just be yourself.
Women have a hard time being ourselves, and other places in the world are much worse. I wish Leslie, with all her influence, had said instead: there's a place in the WNBA for every great player, whether she's a tomboy, a foofoo, or somewhere in between. You are perfectly wonderful just the way you are.
You missed a great opportunity to give girls some validation as people, Lisa Leslie.
It's Indiana vs. Phoenix in the WNBA finals
The Indiana Fever and their fans are feeling great about their Eastern Conference win last night. Big ups to not only the team for closing it out, but for my new favorite male basketball player, Larry Bird, for helping generate such a huge turnout at the game by purchasing so many tickets to give away. Freakin awesome.
Photos here, starting with an emotional Tamika Catchings pic. She is one of the main reasons I want the Fever to take the trophy. Such a great player and person.
In the West, it was the Mercury from beginning to end; they dominated the game. Sparks co-owner Kathy Goodman explains why she's not reflective just yet, and Mechelle Voepel shouts out Lisa Leslie.
Photos here of the Western Conference finals, including the one above. That picture scares me, because I've never seen Candace Parker the iron woman in tears before, despite following her career from high school. I always figured it was because she grew up playing with boys that she's always had the Tim Duncan no-expression game face - sometimes off the court, too. And in typical double-standard fashion, Parker has been criticized for that game face, with fans calling her "arrogant" and other names because she doesn't smile all the time like a woman is supposed to. But in tears? The picture makes me sad. Here's another one from the Associated Press that freaks me out even more:
They are not only tears of sadness but of frustration, knowing Parker and her high standards. The Sparks were never able to get on the same page this season, despite a galaxy full of potential. I wonder if Parker has ever had that experience before.
Leslie is sad because she's just fouled out of her last professional game. I wonder what she'll do career-wise after this.
Big big ups to Betty Lennox, who poured in another 19 points last night to cap off a great personal season that included overcoming an injury. She definitely silenced all her doubters this year.
This picture is a happy one. Catchings and Tully Bevilaqua are two of the absolute nicest players in the WNBA.
Ironies: Indiana's Jessica Moore and Phoenix' Temeka Johnson were cut and traded, respectively, by the Sparks within the last year. Now they're playing for the WNBA title.
I know there's still a title series to be played, but my mind is already on college and high school season.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
"Remembering Polkey"
Today marks the fourth anniversary of the death of former Arizona center Shawntinice Polk, who collapsed after a workout and died later that night from a lung blood clot. The Wildcat basketball program, which had enjoyed a tradition of success, began to decline, culminating in the firing of Coach Joan Bonvicini in April, 2008.
Fans have long said it was the death of this young woman that caused the program to go downhill. This excerpt from today's piece in the Arizona Daily Wildcat seems to support that theory:
But Polk’s passing affected her team in such a distinct way. Arizona went 8-22 with a 3-15 Pacific 10 Conference record the season after Polkey died — a year that included Arizona’s first five-game losing streak since 1994-95. Arizona has won just 11 games in the past three seasons.
Team counselors worked with players for weeks upon weeks. Nearly a dozen players have left the program early since Polk’s death.
“There were some players who had some problems — very severe problems,” said Bonvicini, who was replaced by Niya Butts before the start of last season. “I don’t know if it was the direct result of Polkey passing away. It brought up within them family secrets that had been deep down — buried deep down in, who knows — in their conscience.”
“All kinds of issues came out because of this,” Bonvicini added. “I’m not here to blame anyone because I love Polkey. I loved coaching her and I miss her.”
I hope UA can rebuild. They were fun to watch back in the day.
Fans have long said it was the death of this young woman that caused the program to go downhill. This excerpt from today's piece in the Arizona Daily Wildcat seems to support that theory:
But Polk’s passing affected her team in such a distinct way. Arizona went 8-22 with a 3-15 Pacific 10 Conference record the season after Polkey died — a year that included Arizona’s first five-game losing streak since 1994-95. Arizona has won just 11 games in the past three seasons.
Team counselors worked with players for weeks upon weeks. Nearly a dozen players have left the program early since Polk’s death.
“There were some players who had some problems — very severe problems,” said Bonvicini, who was replaced by Niya Butts before the start of last season. “I don’t know if it was the direct result of Polkey passing away. It brought up within them family secrets that had been deep down — buried deep down in, who knows — in their conscience.”
“All kinds of issues came out because of this,” Bonvicini added. “I’m not here to blame anyone because I love Polkey. I loved coaching her and I miss her.”
I hope UA can rebuild. They were fun to watch back in the day.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
