2008 Woodie Awards
“I respect Pat Summit’s knowledge of the game and how perspective and keen she is. And this is just another example of that.”
That would be one Geno Auriemma, speaking of a certain coach who voted for him as Coach of the Year. Good stuff.
—————————————————————-
News-wise, another Media Day has come and gone without any big-time shockers. We do know the starting lineups (barring late-injuries), and again, no surprise.
It’ll be Zurich, Carson, Ajavon, Prince, Vaughn for Rutgers; for the Huskies, we’ll see Montgomery, Swanier, Moore, McLaren and Hunter.
Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery (”I’m fine. 110 percent.”) both practiced Monday and should be ready for Tuesday’s game. All indications are that they’re just going through the normal bumps and bruises of a season, and specifically a tough game with Old Dominion yesterday.
Also, for those of you who still have VCRs and/or stopwatches, Tuesday’s game will officially tip at 9:07 p.m. on ESPN. It will be just after Candace Parker shoots seven more free throws than the entire opposing team to help lead Tennessee past Texas A&M.
Other miscellaneous notes:
–The DC’s own Brittany Perotti had a chance to talk to Tina Charles today - get this - in the Greensboro Coliseum’s “Video Arcade Lounge.” Yes, lest you think that the players have it all easy, what with their 6 a.m. practices and NCAA-provided meals, they’re stuck playing those awful “Cruisin’ USA”-ish driving video games. You know those times you go to a bowling alley or a boardwalk arcade and that’s all they have? It’s awful. Give me skee-ball, or, as Lorin Dixon was reportedly playing, air hockey.
Anyway, make sure to check out Brittany’s feature on Tina (in addition to Tim’s regular preview of the game) in the paper or on the main site tomorrow.
–Geno Auriemma is really a big softie at heart. He was asked by a Hartford Courant reporter what he would remember about this team regardless of the result of tomorrow’s game. Here’s his response, delivered in a very solemn, soft and deliberate tone:
“Probably I would carry some images back with me when they leave. Of Ketia being able not only to take a shot like she did [a huge 3-pointer in the waning minutes] against LSU – and make it, which she never could’ve done four years ago. The way Charde’s playing right now, which I didn’t think was possible. How far Brittany’s come in four years, which I didn’t think was possible. And the picture of Mel sitting there, with tears in her eyes in Syracuse, knowing that her career was over. Regardless of what happened, short of lifting the national championship trophy, I don’t think anything would be more powerful than those things.”
Maybe it doesn’t come though in the words, but being in the room, if you needed more proof of the love and devotion that Auriemma has for his team, here you go.
–C. Vivian Stringer showed a little bit of playfulness today during her press conference. I know, I’m shocked too. Talking about why she looked so upset during RU’s win over George Washington, she said, with the first smile I think I’ve ever seen from the Scarlet Knights boss:
“You start to have a breakthrough headache. My head was killing me. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. But you know what, your players will say ‘calm down, it’ll be OK.’ How you gonna smile when you see that going on? You’re supposed to smile? About what? 40 minutes left to go in the whole season? Calm down?”
–As expected, the feature matchup in tomorrow’s game should be Essence Carson v. Maya Moore. Carson, the Big East’s defensive player of the year, gave Moore all she could handle in Piscataway. She’ll be guarding the Big East player of the year “probably a lot,” Stringer said.
Stringer credited RU’s triangle-and-two defensive set for holding Moore to “just” 15 in the first game in Piscataway, though most of those came on late 3’s at the end of the game with UConn trailing.
–Lots of talk about the rivalry, comparisons to UConn-Tennessee, etc. The Rutgers players seemed a little non-plussed about the whole thing, though the UConn players felt free enough to say they thought Rutgers was a big and special game.
Both coaches said the rivalry was an excellent thing and hoped that the women’s game could develop more like it.
And lastly, a few Auriemma quotes on various subjects:
–On Brittany Hunter:
“There’s no amount of pain that can keep her off the court at this point. But our trainer is doing a great job keeping her off the court after 15 minutes. And I agree with that. I don’t want her to help us win some games and then not be able to walk afterwards.”
–Auriemma on the late start:
“I think sitting around until 9 is probably the worst thing in the world when you’re trying to figure out what to do all day long. I know that it can’t come soon enough for our guys.”
–And finally, Auriemma had a few choice words for the NCAA selection committee, while on the subject of playing a team they know so well in the tournament:
“There’s less preparation time [needed] because you know the majority of the stuff they’re going to run. But it’s hard beause you know what they’re gonna do and it’s hard to play against … it’s unusual in the NCAA tournament for you to be playing a team you know. I can’t thank the NCAA selection committee enough for making sure that we’d be matched up with a team we know, and making sure two Big East teams can’t make it to the Final Four.
—————————————————————–
Well, it looks like that will do it from Media Day. The auxiliary stuff is over, and we’ll be back sometime before game time Tuesday night for the fourth NCAA tournament liveblog. In the meantime, enjoy NCAArmageddon (trademark!) on the women’s side and the Chalkgasm of the men’s tournament. Sometimes, Cinderella needs to learn to get the hell out of the way.
As for predictions? LSU overcomes UNC in their backyard, Maryland runs through Stanford, Tennessee dominates Texas A&M.
And this game? Renee Montgomery scores 17, Maya Moore gets 16 and UConn wins 72-62. You may be able to read that in the (N.J.) Home-News Tribune (www.thnt.com) tomorrow (as part of a feature wherein the HNT’s reporter went around asking various UConn reporters for their thoughts on the game), but you heard it here first.
So long from the Coliseum, where if it rains any harder, I won’t need to shower tomorrow morning.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
From Horsebarn Hill to Hilltop - we’ve got you covered.
RSS 2.0
