Showing posts with label Texas Aggie women's basketball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas Aggie women's basketball. Show all posts

Friday, February 9, 2018

Prognostications and Expectations—How Do They Really Impact Aggie Women’s Basketball?

After watching last night’s Aggie women’s basketball game against Ole Miss, in the clear victory 83-54 over the Rebels, I began reflecting about how the team had developed this year, compared to all of the prognosticators’ opinions and rankings and laudatory platitudes awarded before a single whistle had blown this season.

Back in November, 2017, TAMU women’s basketball was picked 4th in the SEC, and three players were named preseason All-SEC: Khaalia Hillsman (First team), Anriel Howard, and Danni Williams (Second team). Also, in November, the Aggies were ranked 20th in the AP Preseason Poll.

Currently, the Aggies are in a three-way tie with South Carolina and Tennessee at 8-3; leading are Mississippi State (11-0) and Georgia (9-2). That could change a lot before the SEC tournament, then we shall see.

Danni Williams was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List in November, 2017. Also, Khaalia Hillsman was named to the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List as well. Nice, but, what kind of pressure did that put on those players for their season?

If you’ve attended more than three games this season, you know unquestionably that Anriel Howard is more a first teamer than a second teamer (biased personal opinion aside), and undoubtedly MVP of the year so far.

And right behind her is Jasmine Lumpkin.

These two comparatively unsung heroes are the ones making the best plays, the free throws, the rebounds, and the mid-range jumpers that keep the Aggies alive while opponents try their latest double team dance-off against Khaalia or Danni. You don’t see them, however, on national watch lists, because they’re the best team players who focus on teams.

So, if you’re missing the best players, why the hype of the preseason rankings and awards? It’s all come down to numbers, statistics, and something for the commentators to discuss between plays, I guess. But it doesn’t begin to watch the action on the court when the team goes over to congratulate the unsung heroes for doing their jobs, every single game. The smiles and true regard you see exchanged between teammates are worth more gold than any of the countless number of trophies that will be handed out by season end.

It was perfect Monday night at the radio show at Rudy's BBQ, when Gary Blair pronounced Jasmine Lumpkin as his Fifth Dimension in the wheel that goes ‘round and ‘round on the team. He had to ask the crowd if anyone there remembered the Fifth Dimension, but he picked the right place to ask that question. We all knew the answer.

You can’t have the Fifth Dimension without the harmonies of Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Ron Townson, and Lamonte McLemore singing together. And, if you have Anriel, Danni, Khaalia, and Chennedy out there on the court, Jasmine is that perfect fifth.

Now then, there’s the whirling dervish, Chennedy Carter. She was named espnW National Player of the Week in December, 2017, with 46 points in the Aggie 75–74 victory over USC, only the third TAMU player (Courtney Walker in 2015 and Kelsey Bone in 2012) to do that. Carter has also been named SEC Player of the Week several times this season, but how does that help her get more assists than points in her point guard play? It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers.

Fortunately, the past three home games, what statistic has mattered most of all are the smiles on the faces and the affirming high-fives, hand slaps, hugs, and side bumps for each Aggie team player who is playing the best team play. It’s a Danni Williams passing the ball to Khaalia Hillsman, when she just as easily could be shooting it herself, and then smiling when Khaalia gets the bucket. It's the tandem passing between Williams and Carter down the court and then both deciding who should shoot the ball, to a successful conclusion and approving smiles between teammates that measures success better than any stats.

It’s an Anriel Howard who gets that rebound (after rebound) when she’s not the tallest player on the team, because she is doubly determined to play her role on this team and she’s the best junior we have out there, who acts more like a grad student in her maturity.

It’s Jazz Lumpkin who is the one you can count on. She has made believers out of some audience members who had no idea what she was capable of, but she wasn’t listening to doubters or naysayers. Lumpkin was listening second to her coaches but more importantly, she was listening first to her heart that told her she is a valued member of the Texas A&M women’s basketball team and she loves this game. And look what happens when she’s on the court—magic!

Watch game film or live in action, to see that Howard and Lumpkin are always standing up, straightest and tallest on the court. They may be just as wiped out as all the other players, but their stance does not show it. Their shoulders are not slumped. They have backs as straight as lifetime piano students build, and therein stems the attitude of a true warrior. These subtleties are the extra advantage they take into battle for the victory.

And then there is the unselfish smile of admiration these team players show one another. It’s hard, when you’ve had hot shot shooting days on your roster for years, whether high school or college, and it’s up to you to make the shot or pass it to someone with a higher likelihood of making it. Women are natural competitors, but here we are nearing the end of SEC play, and this team has much to be proud of in its solid capacity playing together—united in goals.

You can't overlook the solid coaching and permanent imprint of Associate Head Coach Kelly Bond-White, Assistant Coach Bob Starkey, and Assistant Coach Amy Wright, for each of their contributions to this team, and it takes supervision, coaching, studying, teaching, advice, and a lot of listening to the words of these talented women. Mike "Radar" Ricke has what it takes to keep these teams going strong, and new Sports Performance Coach, Kayln Sticher, is working to build the endurance of each of the players.

Not everyone is on that same page of the hymn book yet, but these kids are coming to A&M being told their entire high school and AAU careers how great they are. Rule number one is “Never believe your own PR.” But they do. They get named to preseason watch lists, to weekly shout-out lists and the accolades can fill the room. Chennedy Carter, though, is one who seems oblivious to the awards and the accolades heaped on her and she's just getting out there and making offense happen, which helps her stay the course of every game. That telescoping focus on the basket at hand is key. Just like the famous scene in "For the Love of the Game": "Clear the mechanism."

Chennedy Carter plays for the love of the game, and ultimately a pro career ahead, but it's one game at a time, one season at a time, one victory at a time. Last night she had 7 assists and 4 steals (fun to watch). Danni Williams had 4 generous assists. Given the nature of the game, it would have been nice to see more assists than the 17 total for the game, where players were in double-digits. Ole Miss had 13 assists and four players in double digits, too.

But, you know what? Kayla Wells wasn’t named to a preseason thing, and she’s brilliantly and quietly making her way into prominence with sure shooting, confidently and smartly. Wells and Jada Walton both had 4 rebounds, and N’dea Jones had 5 rebounds last night, fourth only to Anriel (14) and Khaalia (7), and Jasmine (6). These freshmen are coming on strong, and that's one of the best things to watch and enjoy in person at these games.

Sometimes staring at the jumbotron or stat boards, you can lose focus and miss the eyes and the hearts of the players who are out there executing plays, carrying out strategy, and fighting for victory, or to at least walk out of the arena, holding their heads up. Team play is a victory. Selfish play is demoralizing to the team and the crowd alike. Ole Miss played hard as a team in training. They passed the ball. They looked for openings and in the second half they got the three-point shots we left wide open while learning not to do that. Many shots simply would not fall the Old Miss way, but they kept after it, they kept trying.

Postgame, Ole Miss’s coach, Matt Insell, described his team as “a little scared out there and I really didn’t understand that.” It occurred to me how sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the clipboards with the numbers.

Coach Insell’s statement was profound, and perhaps is the key to beginning the turnaround he will ultimately find as his team gains skills and savvy. After all the Texas Aggie women have appeared exactly that way (cowed playing powerhouses) at times.

But what do victories really mean, and to whom? One thing is sure: It’s fear of failure that drives UConn players, if you listen to the words of Geno Auriemma shared last month.

At UConn, per Geno, “Maybe it’s just the function of this program because there are no easy passes here, no get-out-of-jail cards…You come here, you’re competing against really good players and you compete every minute of every day, every drill, everything we do. And then you get rewarded”…“any player who claims not to be afraid to fail is lying.”

That’s just a portion of his interview, and not to take it out of context, but what basketball coach or team doesn’t want to win? Who doesn’t give everything they have in practice? If they don’t, are they still on the team next year? Maybe, maybe not. what are the stakes, though, among the best of the best teams?

So, Coach Insell likely found his words explaining that he was proud of their effort, their hard work, against a solid SEC contender, and time would show continued improvement, to keep the faith. That’s a life lesson that means something to their future success.

In watching coaches on the sidelines during big ticket games, Texas A&M can be proud of both Gary Blair and Billy Kennedy for their sidelines demeanor compared to others in the SEC. Sometimes I think Bruce Pearl (Auburn men) shouldn’t be wired, or the camera shouldn’t go on LSU’s Nikki Fargas so much. Her glances scare me and I’m just sitting in the arena!

Maryland’s Brenda Frese is cool and collected. The great Pat Summitt, whose "We Back Pat" fundraising effort all SEC schools are backing, was a calm leader. Baylor’s Kim Mulkey is an example of…well, I won't finish that sentence.

What role does fear have in women’s basketball? What and whom should a player be afraid of? Disappointing their parents? Letting their coaches down? At Texas A&M, add to the pressure packer, the challenge of looking good or bad in front of a crowd of virtual strangers who spent thousands of dollars on primo seats. If you're given to pressure, the way things go sometimes, players seem to carry on their backs the way they feel when, and how soon, the crowd leaves Reed Arena--that's not good.

Seeing how many stayed last night, to sing the War Hymn along with the players, an aftergame tradition with a win, was demoralizing to this team. Seeing the game well in hand, I saw several Aggie faithful nick out in the fourth quarter. I guarantee that if we'd won against Mississippi State last night, you would have every single ticket-holder have to be swept out of Reed after refusing to leave the scene of the victory.

Players are also surrounded by fans who adopt and nurture them as their own, which is a two-edged sword, but mostly good. Players hear many things, mostly affirmations, from these well-meaning loyalists who want to soften the blow of a loss, and yet, the coaches are trying to teach the players to accept losses, examine root causes, correct the behavior or errors, and to keep on fighting for success. The question never seems to come around to whether these players are letting themselves down. They are last on their own list, much of the time. No time to think! A lot of input is what these players get and perhaps that offsets the pain of statistics of missed opportunities or things that should not have happened.

Numbers are cold, emotionless, and constantly changing. The heart of a coach, though, should remain consistently in teaching and encouraging mode, if you’re going to win in life as much as in the game. Aggie coaches are doing their parts, 24/7, and it is their most important priority.

Speaking only for myself, it would help immeasurably if the administrative leadership of TAMU (academics and athletics) would make their physical presence at the games a priority. Longtime fans remember days of old, where students and players were shown the importance of Aggie athletics for both basketball teams, when the President and Vice Presidents attended the games with their families. Season ticket holders know exactly where those prime seats are and it is beyond frustrating to see them wide open vacant, with only an occasional brave student sliding into a seat or two, which is a good thing, so it won't be such a vast blank space.

It’s powerful and important to kids from towns large and small across the state to see “leadership” supporting their event. Case in point: tomorrow night’s men’s game vs. Kentucky has scalping priced tickets available on Flash Seats for the worst seats in the house. It’s Kentucky and the way Calipari’s one-and-done zen masters are playing, the Aggies could very well hand the Big Blue Nation a battle.

It’s beyond ironic when a Kentucky journalist wrote that “Struggles aside, UK’s Hamidou Diallo still projected as first-round NBA Draft pick.” But what kind of education are these highly celebrated athletes getting year-round from the media?

Diallo is a freshman, and until someone stops the crazy bus, Kentucky will always be a school for the pre-pro players to wear blue and white for one year, sort of, and be called a Wildcat and then move on….without a hope in heck for a college education. Kentucky could care less if their players graduate. Texas A&M cares and devotes major financial resources to teaching their student athletes.

However, in stark contrast to our upcoming Kentucky game tomorrow night, an essentially capacity game, last nights’ women’s game was fortunate to have 300 students from the TAMU Corps of Cadets in the student section. They made a major difference in showing school support.

Shelby Metcalf earned his EdD with his dissertation on how “Crowd Behavior at Southwest Conference Games.” No joke…it’s a real thing. Think about it—how does collective approval via crowd noise impact you directly? Likely it impacts the players with adrenaline, joy, and emotions, as they feel good about what they’re doing for their team and this school, and they deserve the best, same as the others. The crowd is vital.

Just as it was easy to make a greater profit by selling more bottles of water at Aggie concession stands at a lower price (volume, volume, volume), fill the stands with kids who deserve it for free. Simply round up the to-be-unused/unsold-because-we-only love-football administration tickets and give them away for free to students who can’t afford a sports pass, or a $15 plus tax ticket for a reserved seat online, or even a $40 single ticket on Flashseats for Kentucky tomorrow night? Fill Reed Arena with people who really want to be there and can’t afford it, and you can even sell some water and popcorn. It’s a win-win.

If you are free Monday night, come to Rudy's BBQ on Harvey Road and enjoy unscripted remarks with Gary Blair and his audience. Young Elizabeth Miller is a very promising broadcaster and she's not only not self-conscious about being on the radio, just like her dad, Steve Miller, she is delightful. Watching Gary and Elizabeth reminds me of George Burns and Gracie Allen, "So how's your brother, Gracie?" and she'd hold forth!

Now, come Thursday night, everyone is encouraged to get up off the couch and stomp on over (with apologies to the Brothers Johnson), to fill Reed Arena for the next (affordable) women’s basketball game, set for Thursday, February 15 against Florida, and it’s the BTHO Breast Cancer game, so wear your pink shirts (this year’s or last), and show this team the love they deserve. Your presence will make all the difference in the world to these young student-athletes. Stay and allow them to come into the stands and say "thank you for coming," the way their coaches inspire them to do.

Last night, TAMU Head Coach Gary Blair notched his 350th win at Texas A&M with this game, but you can rest assured that only Asst. Sports Information Director David Waxman had that on his mind, because Blair was there to play ball and to teach his kids.

It's never too late to begin to root for this team. No one will ask you how long you've been coming. They'll just be glad you came.

Friday, January 20, 2017

How the Aggie 12th Man family can show our love and support to an exemplary Aggie grad

Thanks to social media, today I caught wind of a chance to help a fellow Aggie graduate, Ms. Courtney J. Walker, raise $2500. These funds will sustain her basic living expenses until she can secure a position with an international basketball team overseas.

Many of my fellow Aggie basketball fans probably thought the young star’s life was “all set” when she was drafted by the Atlanta Dream last April 2016. Unfortunately, she was drafted in the second round of the WNBA by a team that already had veteran guards in place. Many of us were shocked that she wasn’t already out on the court playing, as she was a four-year starter who set the Texas A&M record for scoring with 1,989 points.

(Photo, left, by Matt Sachs, used with permission)

After the draft, Courtney told "The Eagle":

“I’m not disappointed in not going in the first round, Walker said. I understand teams have needs, so they’re not just going to pick 12 guards even if they’re the 12 best players. I’m OK in going in the second round. This is a business. I’m just happy to have the opportunity and with a great team at that.”

Examining those words, you see instantly her modesty and humility. She was just happy to be chosen in the draft. No one can take that away from her. Now, let’s stop and think about what this young woman accomplished as one of the most important, beloved Texas A&M student-athletes in school history. She completed her degree studies last month and graduated in Computer Engineering. In fact, she was in the middle of posing for her graduation photos on campus last December, when her phone rang.

It was Coach Blair on the line suggesting that she might dash on over to Rudy’s BBQ on Harvey Road like, now, as he wanted her to be his guest that night. She said, “Coach, I’m in the middle of my graduation pictures but I’ll be right over as fast as I can get there.” True to her word, Courtney set a speed record and entered Rudy’s wearing her cap and gown (I reached for my phone and randomly snapped these photos to save for potentially writing about her future pro career.)

When Courtney was a freshman, she recalled being mentored by Kelsey Bone and finding her way. Courtney and Chelsea Jones (an architecture major) spent many hours together as exemplary time managers who kept up very demanding course loads each semester, while playing, traveling, practicing and soaking up all things Aggie. (Game play photos by Matt Sachs, used with permission)

I remember well that Coach Blair would good-naturedly tease Aggie women’s basketball fans saying, “I can’t start my practice until Chelsea gets done with her architecture group project meetings and Courtney gets out of an engineering lab and by then it’s 5:30!” And then he’d put his hands in the air as though he was distressed, but he was bursting with pride that all of his student athletes crushed their classes like they crushed competition at times.

We’ve established that Courtney had the hardest major to deal with while attending college on a basketball scholarship. You’d find both Courtney and Chelsea in the gym when everyone else had left, and as their playing time showed, Courtney was the most outstanding player on the team and Chelsea was the most improved. Both knew discipline and they missed out on much of the typical Aggie’s free time to sleep late, skip a class, or go home during school breaks.

Note to the wise; no Aggie basketball player is going to miss a class, no way, not under the watchful eye of Coach Kelly Bond-White, who can pretty much tell you if it’s 10:00 am on Monday, then player A is in so-and-so class in such-and-such building, and player B is in … You know the drill. Kelly is all about the complete education just as much as Coach Blair is in insisting on graduation. He doesn’t want to mess up his near-perfect record, but really, he cares that each young woman leaves Texas A&M with a diploma, prepared for the world after basketball, and whatever it brings.

About the funds that Courtney needs. What they are for The way to help is by visiting this link to learn more about the GoFundMe account that requests only $2500 total funds for basic living expenses until she can secure a position with an international basketball team overseas. Because she graduated, she no longer has funds from her athletic scholarship, and she doesn’t feel the time is right to commit to a job or engineering career yet because she could be leaving to go overseas at any moment.

Courtney has an agent scouting the best possible opportunity to play professionally. It’s truly a “sure thing” that she will be chosen to play overseas, as have many of our star school athletes, where they make excellent income in their careers. Many of them also prove themselves overseas and are given second chances to sign with WNBA teams, one example being Sydney Colson, today playing for the San Antonio Stars and as an assistant coach working with Head Coach Tina Langley at Rice University.

The fund, in Courtney’s own words, are for her “needs including things such as my prescribed medications, purchasing new contacts and glasses, training expenses, storage fees before I travel, rent, and other related living expenses until an opportunity overseas is afforded to me.”

In one day, she’s received 6 donations totaling $370 of her $2500 goal, one of which came from her former teammate, Achire Ade (we loved Achire before, we love her even more now! #TexasAggieSpirit). It’s only natural, then, that Aggies who believe in helping other Aggies will want to jump right in and participate in this opportunity to give funds to tide this wonderful young woman over until she can secure her ultimate goal.

For more than four years, Courtney J. Walker gave us reason to smile, to scream, cheer, and believe in success for our women’s basketball team. Just a few of her accolades should be noted.

She was named to the Wooden Award watch.

Courtney was also named to the Wade Trophy watch:

Standout former head coach Carolyn Peck said, “Courtney Walker has one of the best midrange jump shots in the country…she was that go-to wing player for coach Gary Blair and is just so smooth.”

Remember when this stellar shooting guard, Courtney J, would log 39 minutes virtually every game and sometimes when we went into overtime, she could always be counting on to be playing 44 of 45 minutes or more, when we were scrambling for the “W”? She, literally, carried our team on her shoulders many games and didn't think a thing about it. Her attitude was always team-centered:

In April 2016, Courtney was named Women’s Basketball MVP at their annual banquet, repeating her award from 2015 and she was also named “Miss Offense” and she led the SEC with 18.4 points per game.

She had three consecutive seasons where she was named to the First Team All-SEC, and throughout Texas A&M's first years with the SEC, was SEC Freshman of the Week and in 2015 was the espnW player of the week, as just two examples of her multiple honors accomplished as a student-athlete.

Here's what ESPN (November, 2015) said:

"Up against what was probably the most challenging two-game week of any team in the country -- at No. 14 Duke on Wednesday and at home against TCU on Saturday -- Texas A&M emerged with a pair of victories to improve to 4-0. Walker was the chief reason why.

The 5-foot-8 guard has made a habit of playing bigger in Texas A&M's marquee games (18 PPG last season against Top 25 opponents), and she delivered against the Blue Devils. Walker scored 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, with a career-high 11 rebounds. She also scored the most important points of the game. After the 12th-ranked Aggies lost a second-half lead and found themselves trailing by a point in overtime, Walker scored six of the next eight points. Texas A&M never trailed again in the 72-66 overtime win in Durham, a victory that is sure to pay huge dividends in March. Three days later against the much-improved Horned Frogs, Walker put in a 23-point afternoon, and again, her timing couldn't have been better. Off to its best start in four years, TCU led for most of the game, but Walker scored five points in a 9-0 run that gave the Aggies the lead with 5 minutes, 36 seconds remaining. When the Frogs regained the advantage, Walker again had the answer with four points in a 6-0 spurt that put A&M in front. The two-time All-SEC first-team honoree also had eight rebounds and was an efficient 10 of 14 from the field in the 82-78 win. Texas A&M's all-time leader in free throw percentage, Walker went 8-of-9 from the line in the two games and is an 87 percent shooter in her career. …Walker also played 78 of a possible 85 minutes against Duke and TCU… Over four games, Walker is averaging 18.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 59.6 percent from the field."

Clearly, Courtney J. Walker was our “go-to” player for all four years of her academic/athletic career as a starter at Texas A&M.

On January 12, 2017, my basketball friends and I landed in Flash Seats very close to the team where we delighted in waiting for the famous “Gary Blair jacket toss to Radar Ricke” when the time is right in the game. My eye spotted Courtney a few rows away, sitting by herself, cheering her team on quietly. She didn’t seek any special recognition or spotlight. She just was happy to be there in support of her team, and that’s what Aggie former students do.

I’m hoping that everyone who reads this will consider a contribution of any amount to spell Ms. Walker while she waits for her dream career to come true.

You can donate anonymously if you wish, or you can include your name.

Please know that your funds go straight to Courtney so she can pay her bills, using this secure online funding portal. Let’s show her what her fellow Aggie family can do to show her our appreciation for everything she did to give us some of the very best basketball games to yell about—ever. Let’s show her 12th Man Spirit and perhaps exceed the modest $2500 she requests.

It may take a few months before she has a signed contract with her international team because it’s a business that doesn’t move as fast as Aggies do!

This is a golden opportunity for all former students, friends, and fans of Texas A&M Women’s Basketball to step up and be a part of a team of encouragement and tangible support for a truly special young Aggie graduate, Courtney J. Walker, ’16.

Again, to help Courtney, click this link. Let’s take a moment to think of this stunning opportunity to say “Thank you” to a young Aggie graduate who, for four straight years, has exemplified everything good and right about Texas A&M as a destination for student-athletes to succeed in life. Gig ‘em, Courtney J. Walker!