April 5, 2006
Cheers for the Maryland women's team
I nearly forgot to set a tape for 8:30 p.m. on ESPN last night to catch the NCAA women's basketball final.
But just before going out to Lamont's soccer game I remembered to set the VCR, reminding myself that though I don't follow women's basketball closely, I would watch any match in any sport, from tiddlywinks on up, involving Maryland potentially defeating Duke.
Further, I had read that this group of young women was exceptionally tough in beating North Carolina in what was described as an ugly but determined game. They sounded worth taking a look at. From Sally Jenkins on the semi-final game:
Everything about Maryland's win was ugly, right down to the Terrapins' sagging black socks and shoes, which looked better-suited for playing on pavement. There were hard fouls, loud collisions and sloppy turnovers all over the floor. Even their victory celebration was unsightly: when guard Shay Doron went to the free throw line with just a few seconds to go, a referee had to tell her to tuck her shirt in.This NCAA Final Four semifinal game was often savagely played, brutally coached and badly officiated, but Maryland got the best of a bad situation, 81-70, over North Carolina. The Terrapins won with a hard-nosed brand of basketball, but they hardly cared about how it looked, after advancing to their first championship game in program history.
We came home after Lamont's soccer game and started the tape of the final. Maryland started off misfiring, but coach Brenda Frese called over players and gave them what-for in what seemed firm but positive terms (the picture, from the Washington Post, at right shows her size and guard Shay Doyon's fierce expression). The giant Valkyrie, who seems 6-foot-2 as a guess, definitely invades the personal space of her players but they seem to get the message.
What transpired next was the best game, next to George Mason's upset of U-Conn, in either the men's or women's finals this year. ESPN showed tape of Frese haranguing her charges in the locker room at half time. She said something to the effect of, "They're celebrating, Duke is celebrating, they think they've beaten you." It was the kind of aggressive challenge one rarely imagines being employed by the coach of a female team. (It's often thought that you need to coach women more gently than men.)
But it seemed to work. Out came Maryland's very young (mostly freshman and sophomore) team. They remembered suddenly how to play defense. The Lady Terps battled back from 13 points down, tied the score with a beauty of a fadeway 3-pointer with 6 seconds to go by Kristi Toliver, and pulled away just enough to win in overtime.
It was incomparably more dramatic that Florida's beatdown of UCLA in the men's final Monday. It's a great story -- a young fearless and tough group of females that won every overtime game they played this year. They rated my Redskins dance of happiness for the victory.
As Sally Jenkins wrote:
One team had all the experience, and the other had none. All Maryland had going for it was a bunch of beautifully consciousless kids. "We're too young to know better," Kristi Toliver had said entering this national championship game, and she was right.Too young to know that a freshman point guard isn't supposed to hit a brilliant step-back three-pointer with 6.1 seconds left to force overtime -- and do it against Duke's massive 6-foot-7 center Alison Bales. Too young to know that a 13-point second half deficit is too much to fight back from in a national title game. Too young to know that the Terrapins had no business upsetting the Blue Devils, a more accomplished and mature opponent that had been all but christened the national champions before the ball ever went up.
They also passed the ultimate challenge, the Lamont test. He doesn't hesitate to make fun of anything I am watching or listening to. I was braced for him to mock any lack of athleticism or skill or shooting ability or physical attractiveness. Instead, he watched enthusiastically.
The young women on Maryland's team, sinking soft touch shots unknown to the men's game -- such as the pullup midrange jumper -- gave him no cause for complaints.
Coach Frese wants to increase Maryland's average home attendance of 5,000 next season. Count me among the converted -- I'd love to see this young scrappy group in person.
- posted by jbelliveau at 2:14 PM in Sports
- Comments
I'm not ready to declare a 180 degree turn on my view of women's basketball. After torturing myself on WNBA for 3 years and giving up on it I'll need more to start watching the sport. Maryland's NCAA win was what I call "A good game."
At first I sat there because after playing midfield for 90 minutes with no sub I was too exhausted to move. I groaned at first, only consoling myself that if I could sit through the 40-year old Virgin I could handle this. But as Maryland fought back and Toliver put in numerous 3-pointers, I was impressed.
As they closed the gap in spite of Duke responding with their own 3-pointers there was no way I was going to move. From watching, I could tell it was going to come down to one shot, and with the ball in Toliver's hands I was thinking she could be the best female ball player I've ever seen. The over-time was just as interesting.I am still a bit reserved about women's basketball, most of them still shoot from the hip instead of over the head, making it easy to block their shots, and though I find the preoccupation with dunking in the men's game annoying, I still like the power game at the right moments.
I also liked the Maryland coach, looked like a cross between Gates McFadden and Lisa Kudrow, excited and into the game would wander onto the court cheering and coaching. Good passion.
I was pleased that they called a foul when Wilson used her shoulder to floor a Maryland player (I wish they'd call that on Shaq istead of making bogus rules to contain him) But I think that basketball refs are among the worst in the world, so there are always calls that revolt me.
Amazingly the women can make their free-throws.
Women's basketball still has a way to go, but that was a good start for me.
WOMEN'S SPORTS I WILL WATCH:
-Women's soccer: Credit Jeannette for twisting my arm, I like it about 90% as much as the men's game overall. The WUSA was better visually than the MLS at times (except when keepers in the 3rd season had trouble reaching midfield with goal kicks).
The team work was more enjoyable than some World Cup teams who fall back too much on showing off individual skills at times.
Do NOT, however, watch the women's game AFTER watching Barcelona, Madrid or Arsenal. You need to watch it first.
-Womens Tennis: I loved it in the late 1990s when Monica, Gabriel and Steffi were playing. Serena and Hingis are very exciting now. More rallies or returns in the women's game. The courts are almost too small for the men's game.
-Beach Volleyball: Whatever... its not just about the outfits and attractive women, I can look at sports illustrated to see that, they are fantastic athletes... who happen to be really attractive in skimpy outfits. I had to laugh during the last Olympics when the networks tried to bury it in the early programming. By the quarter finals they were delaying the broadcasts till 10:30 pm to keep you watching.
-Boxing: In spite of myself, I've been transfixed every time I've seen it. They don't show enough of it.
Posted by: Capt. Buzzkill at April 6, 2006 8:55 AM - Post a comment
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