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After watching Tennessee's 13th
loss to Connecticut during the NCAA Division 1 women's
basketball championship, it dawned on me that Geno
Auriemma and UConn have become to Pat Summitt and the
Lady Vols what Steve Spurrier and Florida were to
Phillip Fulmer.
Earlier in the season, the Lady
Vols lost 81-67 to Connecticut in Knoxville. Last
Tuesday night, the Huskies had beaten Tennessee for the
sixth straight time. If you'll recall, UConn knocked off
Tennessee during last year's title game in Atlanta,
73-68. A few weeks earlier, Diana Taurasi, the Lady Vols'
equivalent to Danny Wuerffel or Alex Brown (pick one),
launched a half-court shot at the buzzer in overtime to
edge the Lady Vols 63-62.
If you are any kind of Lady Vol
fan, you have to wonder if there's a light at the end of
the tunnel. But let's not be too hard on UT. This could
have been Summitt's greatest coaching job.
Consider that UConn has had
legitimate superstars in Rebecca Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti,
Swin Cash, Ann Strothers and Taurasi. True, UT has had
Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings, Sameka Randell,
Kara Lawson, superstars in their own right. Still, the
Lady Vols have struggled against the Huskies.
Lobo is often recognized as one
of the best ever at UConn, but Taurasi has been far more
devastating to UT, in my opinion. Some of my friends
often joke that when Tennessee loses football games,
it's because Taurasi was quarterbacking the other team.
She can seemingly do it all: score, pass, play defense,
hit the long shot.
Why was this Summitt's toughest
coaching assignment? She had no superstars this year.
Quick, name a go-to player that the Lady Vols could call
on consistently.
I'm still waiting.
Shanna Zolman? She's a good
shooter and perhaps the most decorated high school
player in Indiana history, she's still a sophomore and
not likely to take over a game at this point.
Brittany Jackson? Another good
shooter, but she's limited, not very quick and gets lost
on defense from time to time.
Ashley Robinson? She could be at
6-5, but injuries have slowed her. Tasha Butts? She's
one of the many role players on this team. Sidney
Spencer? She lacks the seasoning and maturity.
Last year, the Lady Vols went
all the way to the championship with Gwen Jackson and
Lawson, two Naismith nominees. Lawson could direct
traffic, much like Holdsclaw, Catchings, Dena Head,
Tiffany Woosley or Michelle Marciniak. But Summitt had
basically a solid team.
UConn had a solid team with a
superstar leader and that has been the difference.
Does this mean we should dismiss
the Lady Vols' achievement this year or any other? Not
at all.
Consider that Summitt has won
six titles, she's been to two AIAW championship rounds
(the women's precursor to the NCAA - it stood for
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) and
the NCAA finals five other times. Consider that Summitt
could easily have won 13 national titles at this point.
The Lady Vols will be back.
They've recruited solidly, Summitt is a task master with
extremely high expectations and the tradition is there.
But don't be surprised if you
see Auriemma wearing a golf visor when the Lady Vols
visit the Gampel Center in Storrs, Conn. next year. |
