So for the first time, an ABL game was about basketball, and not about a cultural phenomenon.
The result -- an amazingly easy 96-64 San Jose win over Richmond -- wasn't a great basketball game simply because the Lasers were so dominant, but it was very clear the focus was on basketball. (ABL fans, though, couldn't help but notice the 4,031 people who nearly filled the cozy and up-to-date San Jose State arena. If this keeps up, the ABL may hold more cards than some naysayers (are you lookin' at me?) believe.)
Some notes:
The Shot: Sheri Sam, in the corner, the shot clock running down. The ball is tipped out of her hands, over her head and heading out of bounds. Sam catches the ball while falling over the sideline, turns her body and flicks a high-arching shot that hits nothing but the ... well, you know.
The crowd goes berserk, buzzing for at least a minute, and later Sam (who's not the most outspoken personality) tells the assembled media "It was all in the wrist."
Which leads to ..
The Game: The teams are starting to figure out who they are and who these complete strangers are on the floor with them in the same uniform. (Speaking of which, the Richmond uniforms are easily the ugliest in the ABL. Small children could camp out for a week in Dawn Staley's pants -- and a family of four would fit comfortably in some others.)
And like the NBA, in every game you see several simply amazing feats. On this Sunday, there was Sam's Shot, an Adrienne Goodson left-handed layup while being deposited in the first row under the basket, Sonja Henning picking Staley clean in the open court.
But there are still some bugs to be worked out ...
The Bad: On an inbounds play late in the second half, Marta Sobral (of the Brazilian Olympic team) took the ball from the ref and immediately passed it in. Unfortunately, no one from either team was looking and the ball looped over the nine players on the court, landed and bounced twice before anyone noticed it.
A scramble ensued, the Lasers wound up with the ball and scored yet another easy basket.
Speaking of easy baskets, one reason for them was Richmond's relaxed attitude about getting back on defense. Lasers continually just ran down the floor after a missed shot, took a pass and laid the ball in unmolested.
Usually that pass came from ...
Jennifer Azzi: What a wonderful player she is.
Yes, she's gotten a lot more ink than maybe she deserved because she happens to be white, but this woman can play. She is not, however, a take-over-the-game kind of player, but rather do-all-the-little-things-right-and-kill-you-with-the-open-jumper kind of player.
Azzi is just a clinic waiting to happen out there, and her five-for-10 from the field, eight-for-eight from the line, seven recound and seven assist game was as quiet, and unavoidable, as a change in season.
And there's also ... Anita Kaplan: Anita Kaplan is not an ABL poster girl.
She's 6-5, a big 6-5, has a nice touch and works very hard. She is also painfully slow, but against the Rage, it didn't matter. She dominated the game in the first half, mainly because she wants the ball.
Now, some post players want the ball, but Kaplan wants the ball. When she's open and doesn't get the ball, she emits a high-pitched sound that lets her teammate know that she hasn't been fed in a while and she's wide open and isn't it about time she got the ball so she could score again?
This is not to say that Kaplan's a selfish player, for she will pass, and does the dirty work, but she has clearly taken her coaches to heart when they've told her that a good post player gets position, shows a target hand and demands an entry pass.
Against Richmond, the passes were perfect and Kaplan took it from there.
And speaking of Kaplan, how are things ...
In the Paint? Things are rough. Very rough. This is not a game for little girls.
Bodies fly. Elbows fly. Guards enter at their own risk.
After the game, the Richmond players commented that the officials called the game too tightly and should let the players play more, as they do in Europe. So Taj McWilliams was asked if the ABL was less physical on the block because of the officiating.
"Oh no," she said. Overseas, she explained, post players work inside and out and don't just post up like Kaplan, and try to muscle their way to the hoop.
So is Kaplan one of the strongest players in the league? McWilliams says no, which is a frightening thought, because Kaplan nearly put Rehema Stephens in the stands while clearing a rebound.
You want to play down low in this league, you better bring some muscle -- and have your dental insurance paid up.
And one other thing ...
The Fun Factor. This game was a blast, even though it was a rout. The crowd was big and totally into it, the players responded, the home team won and everyone went home with something to talk about.
If the ABL puts this product on the floor every night, the WNBA is going to be begging bigtime next summer. This was basketball, not hype, and it was big fun.
11/5/96
