The USA National Team took a perfect 28-0 record into the March 8-15 Chinese Women's Basketball Tournament, but it will have to add to that ledger without the services of starting forward Sheryl Swoopes and backup center Carla McGhee. The two represent the third and fourth leading rebounders on a U.S. team that is already deficient in the board-banging department, and that could spell trouble for head coach Tara VanDerveer and her troops.
The 6-2 McGhee came out on the short end of a run-in with the floor on Feb. 24 during practice. The resulting concussion and neck sprain left VanDerveer searching for a last-minute replacement in the pivot, where the U.S. is already lacking in bulk. The search ended with the discovery of Val Whiting, who was available on short notice after averaging 16 points and nine boards as a 6-3 professional for Brazil's Seara Paulinia club.
But the bad luck continued when Swoopes, a 6-0 starter at the three spot, fell on the floor and took a kick in the head during a practice in Hawaii. She's back home with a slight concussion and receiving twice-a-day treatments for her neck and back.
While Swoopes recuperates, her teammates challenged Olympic medal contenders China, Cuba, and South Korea in eight consecutive games beginning March 8. There was no time to find a replacement for the versatile and statistically dominant Swoopes. Her athleticism could be sorely missed against Cuba's team, which boasts 10 returnees from the team that finished fourth in the '92 Olympics, and China, which has its '96 gold medal hopes resting on the broad shoulders of 6-9 center Haixia Zheng.
"The China Tour is a big one in terms of assessing our team," says Lynn Barry, assistant director in charge of women's programs for U.S.A. Basketball. "Obviously, if we go over there and win all our games, we might not feel as much of a need for pure size over some combination of size and athleticism."
That combination is a team strength found in the agility and athleticism of starters Lisa Leslie and Katrina McClain. A 6-2, 180-pound forward out of the University of Georgia, McClain is the team's fiercest rebounder, averaging 12.3 per outing in the four wins against a Ukraine team that is the '95 European champion and this year's top Olympic qualifier out of the European zone. In contrast, the 6-5 Leslie averaged only seven boards a game, but her 15.0 scoring average puts her second on the club after guard Ruthie Bolton. Leslie's mobility and shooting touch are unique in the U.S., but a number of international players display those skills and carry more poundage to go with it. At 170 ponds, Leslie isn't an enforcer.
With Swoopes and McGhee out, VanDerveer needs Leslie to pick up the pace and 6-4 Rebecca Lobo to improve on her 4.5 points per game average. Lobo led last year's national championship Connecticut team to a 35-0 record and may be one of women's basketball's most recognizable faces, but she's the rookie on the National Team. The Ukraine trip was her first top-level international experience, and she isn't going to get a lot of minutes shooting 33 percent from the floor.
Swoopes' absence could also be an opportunity for 5-11 Nikki McCray, a perimeter player who was the '94 and '95 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year out of Tennessee. McCray shot 49 percent from the floor during the college tour and could get the nod to start over 6-0 Katy Steding, a three-point shooting specialist out of Stanford.
Whoever starts will have a tough time taking the place of Swoopes, the former Texas Tech star who's as well known for her 47-point effort in the 1983 NCAA finals as for her own Nike basketball shoe. Averaging 12 points, 5.8 boards, three assists, and two steals on the Ukraine tour, she's an integral part of the U.S. lineup. She's also a key factor in a defense that forced 26.5 turnovers an outing during the 20-game NCAA Tour and helped harass Ukraine shooters into 35.8 shooting from the floor.
"This trip will be a chance for some other people to step up and gain Tara's confidence, " says Barry. "It's already happened once, when Teresa Edwards stepped in for Dawn Staley, who we expected to be this teams' starting point guard."
Edwards, 5-11, is the first American basketball player, male or female, to compete in three Olympics. The former University of Georgia All-American paired with former Stanford standout Jennifer Azzi to compile some of the most impressive statistics of the NCAA Tour, averaging a combined 9.7 assists and 3.1 turnovers while playing slightly over 20 minutes each outing. Edwards continued handling the ball with with a notable 3:1 assist to turnover ratio in the 4-0 sweep of the Ukraine, while Azzi slipped to totals of three assists and five turnovers.
Edwards will be tough to dislodge as a starter alongside Bolton, a 5-8 defensive whiz out of Auburn whose 37 steals on the NCAA Tour ranked second on the club behind Swoopes' 53. Bolton averages a respectable two assists to every turnover, and led the team in scoring with a 16.3 average against the Ukraine.
Former Virginia star Staley, the shortest player on the U.S. roster at 5-6, had 19 assists and only two turnovers in the four games she played on the NCAA Tour. While the 9.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio is spectacular, her other numbers were dreadful: a shooting percentage of 16.7, and worse yet, a woeful 8 percent form three-point distance.
Arthroscopic surgery cut Staley's NCAA Tour short, and a broken hand sidelined her for the Ukraine games.
"Everybody has something to do on this trip, but it's especially big for Dawn," says Barry. "She came in as one of our most proven players, and along with Lisa and Carla, has been with Tara the longest."
Staley and the rest of her U.S.teammates are well aware that their spot on the Olympic roster is not guaranteed. They could be replaced during the National Team season, or the 13-person selection committee could opt not to include them on the roster due to be submitted to the Atlanta organizing committee by June 19.
"Our first choice is to go with the 11 National Team players and add one other," says Barry. "Our intent was to get the 11 together for a year and build the kind of team this year's has become. Our '92 team had twelve superstars. It was a great team of individual talent. But seldom have we fielded a team with such defined roles as this one.The chance to play together for a year and learn about each other and the system has helped our chemistry, and it's helped people accept their roles."
At this point, however, the role of the rugged rebounder, enforcer and inside presence is being played by McClain.
"The U.S. team has good speed and quickness. They have good three-point shooters and great creators, and they play well together at both ends of the floor," says Pat Summitt, the University of Tennessee head coach who guided the U.S.A. to Olympic gold in the 1984 Games. "If it's one thing they're missing, it's a wide body in the paint."
Which is exactly why attention has been focused on the University of Connecticut and its 6-7 center, Kara Wolters. With June 19 approaching rapidly, the selection committee is meeting at the national convention in Charlotte, N.C. at the end of March to address the team's needs. Rumors are flying that Wolters is a likely choice to shore up the host team's low post play. She has competed on the last two major international competitions -- the '94 World Championship and the '95 World University Games.
Other names floated about as 12th player possibilities: former University of Tennessee All American Daedra Charles, former Louisiana Tech All- American Venus Lacy, North Carolina's Sylvia Crawley, and Whiting.
Lacy is three inches shorter but more of a pounder than Wolters, and Whiting is twice blessed; she's a known commodity to VanDerveer, her former coach, and will have a chance to prove her worth in the upcoming eight games.
Charles is a 6-3 pro tearing up the professional league in Turkey.
"We're doing our homework," says Barry. "and we're considering the possibility of bringing a few candidates in to train with the National Team in April. We'll figure that out in Charlotte. But it makes sense to get a good look. We'll get a long look at Whiting on this trip, and we might decide to give someone else a similar opportunity on the next trip to Australia."
"A lot depends on the coaching staff and who they're comfortable with," Summitt says. "I know in '84 I needed a strong high post and low post game, and I had (6-8) Anne Donovan. She was not physical, but she was effective."
Wolters is not physical either, and lacks the lateral quickness to cover many of the more mobile post players found in the international game.
The international setting features trapezoid-shaped key that is almost eight feet wider at the baseline than the rectangular U.S. version. Wolters could find her game significantly altered by a low post block that's about a yard further from the hoop than she's used to.
The 12th player will be selected by a committee of 13 chaired by Karen Stromme, head coach at Minnesota-Duluth. While the committee makes the choice, VanDerveer and her staff will have their input.
"Tara has a voice on the committee, but she does not have a vote," says Barry. "There are no perfect players, and Tara's such a perfectionist. But she's made it clear that she wants post players that are bangers."
"Tara's been with the team all year, and that should count for a lot," Summitt says. "If she has one final bullet to put in her gun, then the choice should be hers."
VanDerveer can hardly complain about the bullets the committee has already given her. The club completed a 20-0 sweep through a three-month NCAA Tour, averaging 96.4 points per game and winning by an average margin of 46.2 points.
Summitt's Lady Volunteers kept it within 24, which stood as the best performance of the tour until Louisiana Tech lost by an 87-74 count in front of a sellout crowd. That game came seven days after the National Team completed the seven-game swing through Russia and Ukraine, so Tech coach Leon Barmore may have had some fatigue working in his favor.
The China Tour should also answer some questions about the three-point shooting that wasn't quite what it was expected to be for the Ukraine Tour. Bolton and Swoopes hit 14-of-35 for a more-than-respectable 40 percent, but the rest of the squad connected on only six-of 30 tries from beyond the arc. Steding misfired on eight of her nine attempts and Edwards made just one-of-seven.
In addition to the wider lane, the international game features more zone than is traditionally seen in the U.S., a bigger ball, and an arc that's nine inches farther from the hoop. More zone and a wider lane conspire to put an emphasis on outside shooting, and outside shooting requires an adjustment for the National Team, which used the smaller ball and closer arc on the domestic NCAA Tour.
Still, "I don't think anyone can complain about how we played on that tour," Barry says, pointing out that the team's average win over Ukraine came by 23 points.
Barry and her selection committee will be looking hard at the China results for another reason as well. The group also has six alternates to name to fill out the Olympic roster, and Barry says the alternate list will likely include two guards, two wings, and two posts. The National Team wrapped up the China Tour March 15, then sandwiched a seven-game domestic schedule around a couple of trips abroad.
The seven-game domestic tour starts March 28 against Ukraine at the NBA Charlotte Hornets Training Center in Fort Mill, South Carolina, and continues with a game against a college all-star team April 6 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. China visits the Palestra in Philadelphia on April 13, Cuba comes calling on May 26 at the Civic Center in Providence RI, and Canada takes on the U.S. Club June 9 at the Oakland Coliseum in California. The USA meets Russia June 15 at the University of Illinois-Chicago, and Italy poses the final pre-Olympic challenge on July 13 in the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
The U.S. Team opens its Olympic schedule in Atlanta on Saturday, July 21.
