Over the past 10 years or so, this lifelong hoop junkie has become more and more a fan of the women's game--though I admit, that got its start only because Rebecca Lobo went to the same nowhere high school I did. However, like Johnny Wooden, I've come to believe that the best displays of good sound fundamental basketball today are among the top women's basketball programs.
For those who don't follow the women's game but may have a passing interest at tournament time, here's the totally unofficial Dancing Larry preview:
This may be the most wide-open tourney ever in the history of the women's game, the growing popularity of th game means a wider distribution of top talents, and with the one and only
Diana Taurasi finally graduated from UConn last year, there are no prohibitive favorites.
I'd make LSU the favorite, led by Seimone Augustus (20.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg), as pure and sweet a balla as you'd want to see anywhere, winner of the USBWA Player of the Year award. Lightning quick, good height for a guard (a 6-1 guard in the women's game is the relative equivalent of a 6-5 guard in the men's game), she can score in bunches, when her mid-range jumper is on she's just about unstoppable. The perfect complement is energizer bunny All-American point guard Temeka Johnson (10.0 ppg, 7.5 apg). The Tigers interior is anchored by physical 6-5 frosh Sylvia Fowles, who drew national attention by dunking in a high school game.
North Carolina is perhaps the only team in the country with the ability to run with LSU, in fact the Heels may be even faster, with do-everything point guard Ivory Latta (15.9 ppg, 4.7 apg) leading the frenzied UNC pace. Forwards Erlana Larkins and La'tangela Atkinson can outrun most frontcourts, so Latta always has someone running the lanes with her on the break.
Michigan State is solid and disciplined, and much more physical than people are used to seeing in the women's game, playing the Spartans leaves opponents pretty well beat up. They run big frontline people at you in waves, led by All-American Liz Shimek (14.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg). Ball handling and outside shooting from Lindsay Bowen and Kristin Haynie make MSU a balanced threat.
Although half of their highly touted "six-pack" of outstanding frosh are sidelined with injuries, as usual Pat Summitt has her Tennessee Lady Vols once again occupying a #1 seed. Led by do-it-all senior forward Shyra Ely (14.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and deadly long-range shooting from Shanna Zolman (43% 3-pt FG) and Brittany Jackson (guys, you'll want to click that link!), Tennessee must always be considered a threat to go all the way. For Ely the stakes are personally high, having seen UConn win every year that she has been in college must make this year seem like an opportunity to reclaim the brass ring for the LVs.
Not to be sneezed at:
Stanford: Led by freshman phenom Candace Wiggins (17.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, 2.5 spg, daughter of ex-major league baseball player Alan Wiggins), this may be the best Stanford squad since their glory days in the early 90s.
Duke: Although playing without a true point guard, the Blue Devils are loaded with talent, the multidimensional Monique Curry (17.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 3.3 apg) leading the way, superb outside shooter Aussie Jess Foley, and the utterly mammoth (about 6-7 250) Allison Bales in the middle.
Ohio State: Any team that features an athlete as talented as 6-4 center Jessica Davenport (19.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 3.4 bpg) has to be considered a threat.
Baylor: Can a two-person team win it all? Probably not, but Steffanie Blackmon (15.7 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Sophia Young (17.4 ppg, 9.4 rpg) are fully capable of putting that theory to the test. Coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson has turned around a program that was once the laughing stock of the Big 12 to make them a serious competitor for the national championship.
UConn (full disclosure--my favorite team in all of sports): With Taurasi gone, the Huskies stumbled most of the year, but as Geno Auriemma has noted, "there are only 8 kids in America that have won the national championship and they all play for me." In their run through the Big East tournament, including back-to-back dispatching of top 10 ranked Notre Dame and Rutgers, junior forward Barbara Turner (10.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg) returned to form after a season of being hobbled with injuries. A new wrinkle added late in the season has been to have 6-2 shooting guard Ann Strother (13.0 ppg, 39% 3-pt FG) take advantage of her height by posting up, creating terrible mismatches for opponents to deal with. Future superstar freshman Charde Houston (11.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg), who broke Cheryl Miller's California high school scoring record, has shown flashes of her potential during the season, and how far the Huskies go may depend on how well she elevates her game in the tournament. (Go, Huskies, 4-peat!!!)
Rutgers: Coach C. Vivian Stringer recruits the best street ball players and turns them loose, and her back court tandem of Cappie Pondexter (13.3 ppg, 41.5% 3-pt FG) and Matee Ajavon (12.8 ppg, 2.1 spg) may be second only to LSU's Augustus and Johnson as a backcourt duo. When Rutgers loses it is usually because those two forget to get senior forward Chelsea Newton involved in the offense, and that will be the key to watch with regard to the Scarlet Knights.
Sleepers: Notre Dame, Temple.
Complete women's brackets with all times and TV schedules here.
Title IX so totally rocks my world!