By Clay Kallam
Publisher
In the ABL, everyone wants to run. Coaches invariably plan to score a lot in transition, get up and down the floor and press like demons.
Not in Seattle.
Of course, having Venus Lacy on the block is a very good reason to set it up and work the 25-second clock, but Coach Jacquie Hullah has more low post options that just Lacy. Tari Phillips, a 6-3 international veteran, can either outquick or outmuscle opponents down low, and has an incredibly quick first step that she'll use anywhere on the floor. She can also hit the three, and if opponents collapse on Lacy, Phillips will be spotted up outside. A third power player is hometown favorite Rhonda Smith, who holds the University of Washington career scoring record thanks to a variety of quick post moves.
And then there's 6-1 Cindy Brown, who will play the three but will post up unwary defenders with the moves she perfected as a back-to-the-basket player at Long Beach State. Since then, though, Brown has added an outside game and, as Hullah says, "can take over a game on the offensive end."
With all that inside muscle, there will be plenty of room for Andrea Nagy (pronounced "neige" as in "beige"), Kate Paye and Christy Hedgpeth to shoot their threes -- and in fact Seattle's success will most likely dependent on their accuracy. If one or two of these three is hot from the outside, then defenses won't be able to collapse on the block; but if the three-point shooting is inconsistent, Lacy, Phillips, Smith and Brown will find the lane as crowded as the Mercer Island Bridge at rush hour.
Paye and Hedgpeth are relatively well known for their roles on the fine Stanford teams of the '90s, and Hedgpeth is pencilled in as the starting two guard. Nagy, a veteran of European ball in her native Hungary, will start at the point, and she will be a revelation to ABL fans. She can basically do it all: She has great court vision, can penetrate, can pull up, can hit the three and is very strong going to the basket.
Tara Davis, another UW product, will also see time in the guard rotation, primarily for her defensive skills. Hullah is convinced her offense will come around, but for now her points will come from her speed and her playing time will come from her defense.
Another open court player is Angela Aycock, who was a 6-2 point guard in high school. She's not quite strong enough to bang inside with the big girls quite yet, but should Seattle let the tempo increase, Aycock will be a valuable cog in the machine.
And even though the Reign will try to take advantage of their post players, Hullah says "I've always liked to get the ball up the floor quickly." Once there, the offense will be simple to start out, but will become more complex as the season progresses.
Regardless of how many wrinkles there are, Hullah has one goal: "Get layups." Defensively, her philosophy is complementary: "Control the paint." Hullah will force teams to beat the Reign from outside, and try to dominate the boards.
There are certain configurations of players, though, that will allow Hullah to press and trap, and though Seattle will be primarily known as an inside team, the Reign will not be one-dimensional just because Lacy is on the block.
Then again, Lacy is incredibly strong, and for sheer power, is unmatched in the league. "She loves a physical game," says Hullah, but is deceptively quick, especially laterally.
The main concern for Hullah right now is to foster team chemistry and create situations that allow the players' talents to shine. But the adjustment for her, at least, has not been that great. "Coaching is coaching," she says -- and at any level that means if you have the big guns on the block, you make sure they get a chance to fire.
9/17/96
