Not to belabor the obvious … oh, well, why not? What else are sports writers good for? The top three South teams – Oklahoma (6), Baylor (5) and Texas A&M (4) – all have more or as many conference wins as the bottom four North teams combined. Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Colorado all have one victory apiece.
That’s how it stands through Wednesday, when President Bush’s luck remained unchanged (he was rooting for Baylor against OU), Texas’ frustrations continued to boil, the Cowgirls topped the Tigers and, in a battle of the Big 12’s western-most outposts, Texas Tech defeated Colorado.
BTW, I was alerted to a thread on the RebKell message board about continuing debate in regard to Kansas State point guard Shalee Lehning’s WNBA potential. It’s not the first and won’t be the last, of course.
There is interesting discussion of what makes for a good point guard at the next level. (Remember, though, it’s a message board, and some folks on there dilute even good analysis by being inexplicably hateful. Such is life on message boards.)
Analyst Bob Corwin – alias Bob Scouting Report – has a fair view of Lehning, in my opinion. He believes that Lehning’s court sense, leadership and battling spirit _ terrific as they are to see at the college level _ will not off-set her deficiencies in shooting and defense.
People who mostly follow the college game sometimes have difficulty fully realizing just how good players have to be to stick on a WNBA roster. There are only 13 teams – with the demise of the Houston Comets – and a lot of players with many years of professional experience to fill the roster spots.
Defense is everything in the WNBA, whether people like it or not. Further, as much as Lehning’s rebounding has helped a program that has had only one consistently good true post player in her time in Manhattan – Marlies Gipson – a point guard at the next level cannot crash the boards the way Lehning does in college.
The post players in the WNBA are rebounding machines – they simply have to be – and a point guard cannot afford to consistently get behind on transition defense in battling WNBA-caliber posts for rebounds. It’s defensive suicide.
Lehning has immense desire and basketball smarts. Even though they play very different positions, she is the women’s college version of UNC men’s player Tyler Hansbrough in that they play as if their very souls were on the line every game. Really, I think Lehning would dive head-first into a pit of cobras to get a loose basketball. (But even Bill Laimbeer hasn’t found a way to add a cobra pit to the hoops court.)
Whether what Lehning can do is enough to make it in the WNBA, we’ll see. I think Corwin’s view is accurate, just based on what I’ve seen in watching the WNBA since its inception. That said, Lehning shouldn’t care what we think. Her future won’t be determined by any of our analysis. She will make her case on the court, and the WNBA coaches will decide.
Now, for the power rankings:
1. Oklahoma, 6-0: Getting a win in Waco should really pump up the Sooners.
2. Baylor, 5-1: Wednesday’s loss was disappointing, but a learning experience on offense
3. Texas A&M, 4-2: Next up is a three-game North division swing.
4. Kansas State, 5-1: Patiently battled Nebraska’s defensive strategy Wednesday and wore down Huskers.
5. Texas Tech: 3-3: Pulling out a victory at Colorado is a good sign for Raiders.
6. Iowa State, 3-2: A week to gear up for K-State could be bad news for Wildcats on Saturday.
7. Oklahoma State, 2-3: Be interesting to see how Cowgirls match up with Texas Tech.
8. Texas, 2-3: Uh-oh. With upcoming road games at Baylor and OSU, 4-game loss streak very possible.
9. Colorado, 1-5: Beat Missouri, pushed Texas Tech. There’s something vaguely positive going on. Maybe.
10. Nebraska, 1-5: Next up is trip to Boulder, where Huskers have won three in row after two consecutive decades of losing there.
11. Kansas, 1-4: Saw good signs in loss to K-State, but a week to prep for trip to TAMU probably won’t make much difference.
12. Missouri, 1-5: Played OU well twice last year, including win in Big 12 tourney. Sooners will be looking for revenge.
I agree with Corwin assessment at this point, but I’m betting on Lehning making it because she is a smart, gutsy ballplayer and the deficiencies she has are fixable. The Hansbrough comparison is rather appropriate, and I think the assessments on him are going to miss a little too. He’s not going to be a Superstar in the NBA, but that kids going to play a decade or more, wear 4-5 uniforms, but he’ll also be a part of a lot of teams playing in June because he’s brings things to the table teams making a run will need. Shalee Lehning may do similar things in the WNBA.
Lehning has the potential to be a solid shooter because she sees the cheesboard well. She knows how to get open, and for most shooters, even at the WNBA level. That is half the battle. I’ve seen many players in the WNBA who are quicker than Lehning is, who still can’t create a shot to save their lives because they depend too much on the ability and not enough of knowing the where, when and why thinks work on the floor.
Defensively, she has work to do but she doesn’t have as far to go as Corwin would think. If she continues to learn and study the game and work on the physical end, she’s make herself viable.
When I see Lehning, I’m thinking Kara Lawson. They said the same things about her. Too slow. Can’t adjust to the next level. Won’t get her shots off. Can’t defend, etc. Yet, the heady, gutsy player who they said can’t make it has a WNBA Championship on her finger and an Olympic Gold around her neck.
Lehning is cut from similar cloth, and that will give her a chance to find a home. If not? She will get some overseas exposure and work her way into the W from there.
Where most people on message boards get it wrong, and even some analysts get it wrong is they are looking more toward who will be the next superstar, and anybody who can’t get to the level “won’t make it”. Most drafted players won’t be stars, but those who stick will stick and play a while because they make consistent contributions to their ballclubs. A few may end up like Lawson, where they may not be the “star”, but you can tell the difference when you don’t have them.
I think Lehning has heart and is gutsy, but Lawson has 25lbs on Lehning and was a 3pt shooter in college. I don’t think teams guard Lehning for the three. Does anyone know of a wnba player who developed an outside shot after their senior year of college?
Interesting points. My personal opinion is Lehning has the HEART to create a niche for herself in the “W”. Look at what Leilani Mitchell did this past season. Consider, too, what players like Erin Buescher who was picked #23 in the ’01 draft have done to create their place in the pro league. She wasn’t too high on many radar screens that year, but she’s a premier player in the league.
My bigger concern these days is what (my all-time favorite) Courtney Paris’ future holds. We all know her legendary numbers, but I just read an article by Cheryl Reeves (Detroit) who gave her a reduced stock rating. I mean, I KNOW CP is going to go relatively high in the draft, but does she have the right stuff to be an impact player, or will she be relegated to being a role player? Just my musings….
K-State was pretty mediocre against ISU tonight, running an offense that seemed to mainly consist of having Lehning drive to the bucket and then kick it back out when she was shut down by taller ISU players. Lehning scored like 8 points, including free throws. ISU’s Ezell had a stronger performance, energizing the Cyclones by making some important plays at critical moments. KSU could not counter, at least not effectvely enough to change the game’s momentum.
I cannot imagine the Lehning that I saw tonight competing effectively against, say, Sue Bird. There is no comparison.
I’m having an interesting night… watched the WNBA’s Dream v. Storm game and then did some searching for old materials written about Shalee Lehning. I’m finding it fascinating to go back and read what was said about Lehnings chances in the WNBA. I’ve known her for most of her life and while I never would have told her she was delusional when she verbalized her desire to play in the W, I knew the odds were stacked highly against her. Yet, as she has done since she was a small child, Shalee has embraced the challenge and is the starting point guard for the Atlanta Dream. She’s come a long way from Sublette, Kansas!
Tonight, she guarded none other than Sue Bird. I find it ironic that the comment to this blog mentions how Shalee could not compete w/ Bird. Unbeknownst to all of us, when that person made the comment Shalee was feeling the full effects of mononuceosis. It was when I listened to that Iowa State game that I knew something was wrong with her but it was another 7-10 days before she was diagnosed and went on to miss three games. Tonight she may have struggled to keep up with Bird defensively, but she did score against her and held her own with the ball.
Way to go Shalee! You’ve come a long way and have been the subject of a great number of blogs and articles!