That was the message awaiting Rene Portland and her women's Junior World Championship Qualifying team in Cancun. Cancun was the site of the Confederation of Pan American Basketball Associations' Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament in late August. What's important about the tournament is that the top three teams move on to the Junior World Championships in Brazil in July 1997, and naturally that was the first goal of Portland and her 12-woman roster.
Another goal, though, was for the Juniors to finally make a dent on the international scene. The best-ever finish for an American Junior National team at the worlds is seventh, and Portland and her team were looking at the COPABA tournament as a chance to show that they would be gold medal contenders in Brazil next year.
But there just a couple of changes in plans that somebody forgot to tell the Americans about. For example, they learned a week before the tournament that they would not be playing in Cancun, the posh resort city, but rather in Chetumal, which was supposed to be 50 miles away, and was not quite as posh.
First, it wasn't 50 miles away, but instead five hours by bus. Second, to say it was not quite as posh as Cancun would be an understatement. In truth, it was not quite as posh as a 19th century village in the middle of darkest Africa.
"We were in the jungle," says Portland simply. "It was clean, but we had nine days of cold showers. There was no air conditioning and the humidity was incredible.
"Let's just say I'm not planning on going back."
The relocation might have had more to do with Mexican politics than international basketball. The four teams in Chetumal spent money and brought prestige to a city that is almost purely Mayan -- and therefore susceptible to the blandishments of the Zapatistas and the other rebellious elements in Mexico. And if it made things a little tougher on the United States, well, we at Net Central don't think that made COPABA officials reach for an extra Kleenex.
Then came surprise number two. America's star guard, Nicole Teasley, got the ball after the opening tip against Mexico, took a couple dribbles and yelled to Portland "Coach, it's the girls' ball." At the next out-of-bounds, Portland handed the official one of the 12 big balls -- used by FIBA and the Olympians -- that the Americans had brought to Mexico. Immediately, the Mexican coach jumped up, gesticulated expansively and the small ball was back in the game.
You see, the COPABA officials had forgotten to tell everyone but Mexico, Costa Rica and Cuba that the small ball would be the one used at the tournament. So American sharpshooter Jackie Stiles' weeks of practice with the big ball were immediately erased, and any chances she or anyone else had of adjusting were severely hampered by the fact that the United States hadn't brought anything but the big ball with them to Mexico. And there weren't a lot of sporting goods stores in Chetumal.
"Everybody was stunned," says Portland, and Brazil and Argentina joined in the American complaints, but to no avail. Still, the United States rolled through its division, beat Argentina in the semis and then faced Brazil for the gold.
"Brazil was huge," says Portland. The younger version of the Olympic silver medalists have five players 6-4 or 6-5, and all of them could play. The Americans got good work out of Maylana Martin, Lynn Pride and Carolyn Moos but depth in the front line proved to be the deciding factor in the eventual 82-78 Brazilian win.
It didn't help that Teasley got in foul trouble. She picked up two in the first half, and the coaches carefully instructed her not to touch anyone. The high school senior from Maryland is a great point guard, and barring injury or disaster will be a collegiate and professional star, so it was vital for the Americans that she stay in the game. But when she got back on the floor, the 18-year-old immediately tried to block a layup and picked up foul number three.
Ah, youth.
With Teasley and second-string point guard Keisha Brown both in foul trouble, Brazil built up a 17-point lead with 11 minutes left. The Americans cut it to two at 77-75 but never got any closer.
So what does America have to do to beat Brazil in Brazil next summer? "More time," says Portland. "We need to go to another competition."
The Australian Junior National team, for example, played in the Jones Cup in Taiwan against high-level women's teams, while the Americans had just 12 days together in Colorado Springs. Portland has complained about this before, and she's hopeful that changes will be made next spring that will allow the Junior National team more games against better competition. There will also be another round of tryouts, and it's possible that two or three new faces might make the team -- and given Brazil's size, look for those new faces to be some distance above the floor, and on top of wide bodies that don't mind getting busy under the basket.
And one other thing: The Americans will undoubtedly make sure they know where the games are being played, and what size the ball will be. It's going to be hard enough to beat Brazil on its home floor without having to adjust to a series of surprises.
It was a good show, heavy on the personalities and typically TV in its search for a dramatic story line rather than in-depth analysis. Tara VanDerveer, for example, was a bit player in the show, when in fact it was her personality and leadership that helped make this disparate group of talented and ego-strong women into a cohesive unit.
But all in all, it was fun to watch, though clearly aimed at a mass audience rather than basketball junkies. Hannah Storm did a good job narrating the show and the writing never sank into the treacly bathos that sometimes suffuses such documentaries. We would have liked a little more action, and a lot more Tara, but we're not writing any letters of complaint.
See it if you can, but don't be depressed if you don't. It was nothing compared to actually watching the team play.
9/15/96