(Guru's Note: Here is AP coverage from Indianapolis)

By Cliff Brunt

AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The high-scoring Phoenix Mercury saved their season with defense.

The Indiana Fever led the WNBA finals series 2-1 and had a chance to clinch their first title in front of an active sellout crowd that included local celebrities such as Indianapolis Colts players Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne. None of that mattered as the Mercury beat the Fever 90-77 on Wednesday night to tie the series and force Game 5 Friday in Phoenix.

Indiana shot 2-for 13 in the fourth quarter, stifling any chance it had of overcoming the 72-65 deficit it faced going into the period. The Fever scored 12 points in the quarter, the third-lowest total in a fourth quarter in finals history.

While Phoenix defended well, Indiana's stagnant offense helped.

"In the fourth quarter, nobody wanted to take the shot for them, so they were just passing it around," Phoenix center Tangela Smith said. "That's what we wanted."

Tamika Catchings, who led Indiana with 24 points and 12 rebounds, agreed that her teammates became hesitant. She said this is the wrong time for that.

"Hopefully, that's out of our system and we'll get to Phoenix Friday and we'll be ready to play," she said.

Catchings shot 11-for-17 and Ebony Hoffman scored 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting. The rest of the team shot 11-for-44.

All-Star Katie Douglas, who was hoping to celebrate a clinching win in her hometown, scored seven points on 2-for-14 shooting.

"I thought Katie got some great looks, looks she had been knocking down from the 3-point line to the rim," Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. "Maybe toward the end, she passed up some shots because she had missed them."

Indiana's bench, which both coaches had said was the reason the Fever were leading the series, struggled on Wednesday. The Fever bench shot a combined 2-for-16 from the field.

Indiana rookie reserve Briann January, whose quickness had been a matchup nightmare for the Mercury, shot 1-for-9 and finished with eight points. Phoenix's Diana Taurasi said stopping January was a key.

"In these games, we've struggled when everyone has gotten their points, especially Briann when she comes in and changes the game," Taurasi said. "Sometimes you focus on certain things and you get them done."

Phoenix's offense was in tune as usual. Cappie Pondexter scored 22 points, Penny Taylor added 17 points and Taurasi and Smith each scored 16.

The Mercury shot 10-for-24 from 3-point range. Phoenix felt Indiana controlled the tempo and slowed it down the past two games, but the Mercury felt they regained control on Wednesday.

"Our strength all year has been in our confidence in our attack, and I felt we got that back," Taylor said. "We were playing with confidence and attacking every single time down floor, and that's hard to defend for 40 minutes."

Phoenix shot 72 percent from the field in the first quarter to jump out to a 33-22 lead. The Fever held the Mercury to 16 points in the second quarter and cut their deficit to 49-47 at the half.

Indiana tied the score at 59 on a layup by Catchings with 4:30 left in the third quarter, but Phoenix went on a quick 6-0 run to force a timeout and put the fans, who had been standing in anticipation of a Fever lead, back in their seats. The Mercury extended their lead to 72-65 at the end of the third quarter.

Indiana trimmed its deficit to 72-68 on a steal and layup by Catchings, but the Fever went cold and the Mercury pulled away with a 12-2 spurt. A 3-pointer by Taylor made it 84-70 with 2:33 to go.

Dunn was disappointed to lose at home, but focused on the fact that her team still could win the championship.

"They had to win," Dunn said of the Mercury. "They had to do it the hard way. Now, we've got to go out there and do it the hard way, too. The only situation we've got here is that we're tied."

Taurasi was glad to earn another chance, but she wouldn't promise a victory on Friday.

"I'm going to guarantee that we're going to come out and leave it all on the floor," she said. "I'm going to guarantee that the minute the game ends, we're going to be spent physically and emotionally — and hopefully we're holding the trophy."

By Mel Greenberg
WASHINGTON - Over in Russia internet-savvy youngsters are smart enough to know the difference between Yukon and UConn.

So soon after Monday’s announcement by USA Basketball of the 13-player women’s team that will travel to Russia for a tournament this week to begin preparations for next year’s world championship, when a young girl shouted, “The Huskies are coming, The Huskies are coming,” her parents knew she wasn’t talking about a pack of puppies descending from the northern tundra.

By virtue of the long success of the Connecticut women’s basketball team that has produced six NCAA titles and resulted in Geno Auriemma becoming the national team coach through the 2012 Olympic games in London, the makeup of the initial roster is such it can be entitled UConn Generations.

“It is amazing when you look out there and you see different eras of Connecticut stars standing together – Maya Moore with Sue Bird,” Val Ackerman, the former USA Basketball and WNBA president said Sunday at American University’s Bender Arena during a public scrimmage.

The group making the first trip of the current USA Basketball drive for gold include five Connecticut players in former Huskies Bird,Swin Cash, Asjha Jones,recent grad Renee Montgomery , and senior Tina Charles. Junior Maya Moore, who would undoubtedly have been taken along also, had to bypass the trip in the cause of academics.

She felt she had been given enough of a break from her professors in allowing her to attend the five-day training camp down here and didn’t want to miss much more class work back in Storrs.

Representation of all the championship eras would have been complete if ESPN had been broadcasting from the site, which would mean sideline work from Rebecca Lobo, one of the stars of the first 1995 UConn champions that became the first of three unbeaten Huskies contingents.

It was suggested to Auriemma, who grew up in Norristown outside Philadelphia, that perhaps all the beat writers in the Nutmeg State who have covered the Huskies needed to be on press row to match the reunion such as it is currently exists.

“Oh, please, don’t do that to me,” Auriemma grinned. “But I’m really anxious to see what it will look like when `Dee’ gets here.

That would be Diana Taurasi, who currently is involved in the WNBA Finals where she will try to keep the Phoenix Mercury alive Wednesday night in Indianapolis to avoid being closed out by the Indiana Fever in four games.

The Fever’s Tamika Catchings, a former Tennessee star, was also not here as was the case with Indiana’s Ebony Hoffman and Phoenix’s Cappie Pondexter, the former Rutgers star. All but Hoffman in that group have already been named as part of the eight-player core to the main national team roster.

“It’s easy for them,” Auriemma said of his past and current players who are on the scene. “Because we’ve been doing the same things for the past 15 years. So all these players can blend in together quite easily.”

Jones quipped over the reunion, saying, “We’re all here – young ones, old ones.”

There are also players who have been part of past nationally-ranked opponents who have played against Auriemma’s collegians such as former Duke star Lindsey Harding, recent Louisville grad and WNBA rookie of the year Angel McCoughtry, former Tennessee sensation Candace Parker, former Stanford star Candice Wiggins and former LSU star Sylvia Fowles.

Besides that group, Willingboro’s Crystal Langhorne, the former Maryland star and second-year pro with the Washington Mystics, is one of the players who picked a school over Connecticut and is going to make the trip to Russia, as will former Temple star Candice Dupree of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky.

“You get a couple of kids who I know through watching them through recruiting and watching them play and to watch them now on the floor and watch them interact – it’s just been a great five days for me and I’m thrilled to death with how it’s played out so far,” Auriemma said.

The scene was also bit surreal in seeing all the UConn DNA and Auriemma in an atmosphere devoid of the normally rabid Huskies fan base and other regulars, although several school alums took time to introduce themselves to Auriemma after the scrimmage.

Langhorne spoke of the turn of events that now have her playing for Auriemma for the moment, though her Maryland decision did result in a national championship her sophomore season.

“It’s really special,” Langhorne said. “You’re with some of the best players in the world and it’s just an exciting time to play for USA.

“Geno’s a great coach,” Langhorne said. “You can tell he knows the game a lot. I’m just trying to soak in all the knowledge, you can never stop learning from coaches and he’s going to help my game get better.”

Langhorne also took a moment right after practice to go into the stands and say hello to local Maryland and Mystics friend she recognized at the scrimmage.

Dupree now finds herself in a world that was once highlighted by her former Temple coach Dawn Staley, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and former USA assistant coach, who is beginning her second season with South Carolina.

This past week Dupree was in the town where her life took a different turn a while back when the Temple staff discovered the native of Florida playing in a junior AAU tournament.

From there she went to all-time status with the Owls, all-American honors, and a high pick in the WNBA draft from which she quickly became one of the pro league’s young All-Stars.

With USA’s need to add some post players before the world championships and next Olympics, Dupree once again finds herself in a place she never dreamt much about.

“Being invited to this isn’t anything I was expecting anytime soon,” Dupree said.

“I’m just trying to soak it up,” Dupree said of her new experience. “Geno’s a great coach. Playing for him, I feel like I’m back in college again. He’s very intense. He breaks everything down – offensively and defensively.
“I’m a player who enjoys stuff like that. I’m a visual learner. I enjoy watching him teach.”

During a question and answer session with the crowd afterwards, Auriemma was asked how he has managed to attract such talent over the years.

Besides discussing the normal feeding process of success-bringing-more success, Auriemma noted, “Everyone gets their share good players – Maryland, Virginia, everyone gets there share.

“But that’s why we get paid the big bucks,” he quipped. “You go out and get the best players.”

And sometimes, he gets most of them again in a different life – one in which recruiting the first time around made a similar repeat process not necessary at this level.

-Mel

(Guru's note: Here's the AP advance from Indy for Game 3. The Guru will be D.C. bound to USA training camp looking for to pull an early Amtrak synch with the AP guy getting on father up the line in NYC.)

 By CLIFF BRUNT
 AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever were welcomed home by hundreds of screaming fans on Friday, a day after their win at Phoenix in Game 2 evened the WNBA finals.

If the Fever have their way, they won’t board another flight this season. Indiana could clinch its first championship with two wins at home in the best-of-five series. The Fever defeated the Mercury 93-84 in Game 2 on Thursday night, and they will try to carry the momentum into Game 3 on Sunday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Fever likely will need All-Star forward Tamika Catchings to avoid foul trouble if they are to celebrate at Conseco after Game 4 on Wednesday. Catchings had just eight points before fouling out with 2:42 left in overtime during a 120-116 loss in Game 1, but she bounced back with 19 points, a finals-record 11 assists and nine rebounds in Game 2. She fell one rebound shy of the first triple-double in WNBA finals history.

    “I think the biggest thing for me was being able to be on the court for my team, and then definitely being more aggressive, going to the basket instead of settling for jump shots,” Catchings said.

    Phoenix coach Corey Gaines said his team hasn’t played to its potential in the series. He said the difference between the first two games was simple.

    “They were more aggressive than us and we missed shots,” he said.

    The Fever lost the highest-scoring game in league history in Game 1, then returned to what got them to the finals in Game 2. All-Star guard Katie Douglas said the game plan didn’t change, but the execution and intensity improved.

    “I think it was just the energy, the focus we had, the concentration on the defensive end,” Douglas said. “We just played with a lot more concentrated effort as a unit.”

    Phoenix’s quick-strike offense has given Indiana trouble. The Fever led by 10 points with 1:53 left in the first quarter of Game 1, but lost that advantage by the end of the period, and the game went back-and-forth the rest of the way. In Game 2, the Fever led by 17 in the third quarter. Phoenix made a push, but never got closer than five points.

    Phoenix is known for wearing teams down with its up-tempo style, but Catchings said the pace hasn’t been an issue for Indiana, and won’t be during the series.

    “As much as we run in practice, I feel like we’re in great shape,” she said. “If you look at our team, we actually run quite a bit.”

    Catchings, the league’s defensive player of the year, has been a reason league MVP Diana Taurasi has gone 12 for 39 for Phoenix in the series. Gaines wouldn’t say if Taurasi or Catchings was more responsible for his star’s shooting woes.

    “We know Catchings is a great defensive player, and we know Taurasi is a great scorer,” Gaines said. “Why is (Taurasi) missing shots? It’s a matter of how you look at it.”

    Taurasi’s sidekick, All-Star Cappie Pondexter, was 5 for 16 in Game 2. Catchings noted that Pondexter did what she wanted during much of the last game, but didn’t finish.

    “We have to be more committed to keeping people out of the middle,” Catchings said. “Cappie, down the stretch, got to the middle way too much.”

    Part of Indiana’s defensive strategy in Game 2 was to be patient on offense and make Phoenix play at an uncomfortable pace.

    “We have to do what we did last game,” she said. “If they score a couple baskets, we have to slow it down, we have to pound the ball inside.”

    Phoenix forward Penny Taylor is expected to play in Game 3 after being elbowed in the mouth during Game 2. Gaines said Taylor was doing fine after receiving treatment and will be ready to resume her role off the bench.

    The Fever were all business on Thursday, showing no sign of celebration after their win in Phoenix. For just a few moments after their return Friday, Catchings and Douglas allowed themselves to enjoy the adulation that the team only recently has started to receive from fans. The reception at the Indianapolis International Airport offered a boost for the weary team.

    “It definitely woke me up,” Douglas said. “I was kind of tired. There’s an energy and excitement, and people are now embracing this team.”
 

(Guru's note Here is another report from the AP's Doug Feinberg atUSA training camp in Washington.)

By Doug Feinberg

AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON — Whether its offering an encouraging word or challenging the post players defensively, U.S. women’s basketball assistant coach Jennifer Gillom is making her presence felt in training camp.

“I’m just having fun out there,” Gillom said. “It’s a great opportunity to get involved with a program that I care so much about.”

It’s been a whirlwind summer for Gillom, who went into the WNBA season expecting to be an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx for the second straight year. That all changed a few days before the first game, when head coach Don Zierden abruptly resigned.

That was only the start of an incredible few months as Gillom was inducted into the women’s basketball hall of fame and then named an assistant coach for the U.S. basketball team.

“In my wildest dreams I couldn’t have thought of the year I’ve had. It’s been a rollercoaster ride,” Gillom said. “Just when you thought you had everything going one way something happens.”

Gillom got the Lynx off to a strong start before star Seimone Augustus went down for the season with an ACL injury. Minnesota just missed out on making the playoffs, but the future bodes well with three Lynx players in camp — Augustus, Candice Wiggins and Renee Montgomery.

“It’s great seeing coach Jen in a role where she can learn something,” Wiggins said. “I think she’s a lot more comfortable. She showed the other coaches they can be relaxed to. We’re all benefiting from her.”

Gillom is no stranger to USA basketball, having won five gold medals during her career, including one in the 1988 Olympics and two in the world championships.

“I think she’s got the perfect demeanor,” U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said. “She’s competitive, she did it as a player, they respect her. She infuses them with a lot of energy, she challenges them. I can’t think of anybody better to have then her.”

She is so happy to be able to impart her wisdom and experience on the group in training camp, which includes those three players from her own WNBA team.

“It’s great to be able to talk to them and tell them about my experiences and work with them,” Gillom said. “As far as my own players, it’s nice to see them in a different light and not just on the basketball court. To be able to get to know them off the court is great.”

Gillom is already helping develop a post area that is a small concern for the U.S. team. With only two veterans returning from the 2008 Olympics gold medal team, the Americans are trying to develop young players Tina Charles and Jayne Appel.

“They are learning and getting better,” Gillom said. “It’s my job to help them reach their full potential and improve as players.”

Gillom hasn’t let her success change who she is. She still plans on going back to coach basketball at the high school in Phoenix that she’s been at for the last few years.

“I just am enjoying what I’m doing,” Gillom said, “and don’t want to change who I am.”



deftext.xrul 091002175503A.1
Fri Oct 2 17:55:04 EDT 2009

(Guru's Note: This is the third of three posts with Doug Feinberg's USA Training Camp coverage just below this one, while Guru's notes off Thursday activity in all of women's basketball is two posts down from here.

Suddenly it' two years ago all over again for Phoenix in reverse. That's when the Mercury grabbed one of two opening games in Detroit against the then-defending champion Shock, but lost home-court advantage in Game 3. However, Phoenix rallied in Game 4 and then became the first-ever road team to claim the title in the decisive Game 5. With a Game 4 ensured, the Guru will offer Indy visiting tips over the weekend on where the kill time between Sunday and Wednesday night. Now, here's the AP coverage from Phoenix). -- Mel Greenberg.

By Bob Baum

AP Sports Writer

PHOENIX (AP) — The Tamika Catchings-Diana Taurasi matchup is at the heart of these WNBA finals. Give Game 2 to Catchings, on offense AND defense.

The Indiana star fell one rebound shy of the first triple-double in WNBA finals history and the Fever beat the Phoenix Mercury 93-84 on Thursday night to square the best-of-five series 1-1.

After scoring just eight points and fouling out in Game 1, Catchings had 19 points, 11 assists (tying a finals record) and nine rebounds to help the Fever steal home-court advantage in the series with the next two games in Indianapolis, beginning with Game 3 on Sunday.

"Series can swing either way really quick," Taurasi said, "and it's swung in their favor pretty quick now."

The WNBA defensive player of the year for the third time, Catchings also harassed the league MVP Taurasi into a 7-for-22 shooting night. Taurasi finished with 20 points, going 2 of 10 on 3-pointers.

"She almost had a triple double, huh?" Taurasi said, then whistled in amazement. "You knew she was going come out and have a great game after Game 1. That's just the kind of player she is. We all knew that."

Catchings wasn't about to boast of getting the best of Taurasi.

"Do not underestimate Diana Taurasi ever," Catchings said. "For my job, it's to play defense on D.T. (Taurasi). I give her props, and it's a hard job. ... She is going to look at both these tapes and be ready for Game 3."

There hasn't been a triple-double in any WNBA game since 2005 and it's happened only once in the playoffs. When Catchings, runner-up to Taurasi in the MVP voting, needed only two rebounds in the final six-plus minutes, it looked as if she would get there. But her ninth didn't come until there was just 28 seconds to play.

The cold-shooting Mercury were without supersub Penny Taylor most of the second half. The Aussie, who scored all 14 of her points in the first half, took an elbow from Indiana rookie Briann January and left with a cut lip with 3:33 to play in the third quarter.

"I haven't talked to the doctors so I don't know exactly what's wrong, so I don't want to say something I don't know for sure," Phoenix coach Corey Gaines said. "I know for sure she'll play next game. I know Penny Taylor, she'll play the next game, for sure, 100 percent."

January, a standout at nearby Arizona State, finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 3 of 4 on 3-pointers.

The Mercury struggled on offense two nights after a 120-116 overtime victory in Game 1, the highest-scoring contest in WNBA history. Phoenix shot 39.7 percent for the game and was just 5 of 20 in the third quarter, when the Fever built a 17-point lead.

"I thought we did tonight what we didn't do the other night," Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. "We had a great defensive effort. The difference 84 and 120 points is — I'm not a math major, you'll have to tell me — but it's a significant amount of points."

Gaines, however, said he didn't see much of anything different in the Fever.

"They played the same type of defense, we just missed shots," he said. "We missed m ore shots and we tried to get to the basket and we missed those shots, too."

Catchings led six Indiana players in double figures. Ebony Hoffman also scored 16. Katie Douglas and Tammy Sutton-Brown each scored 14, and Jessica Davenport added 10.

Temeka Johnson had 14 for Phoenix. Pondexter shot 5 of 16 — 0 of 4 on 3s — en route to 12 points. Tangela Smith also scored 12 for the Mercury.

The Fever, in their first WNBA finals, took control with a 12-2 run, going up 71-55 after Catchings made two free throws with 2½ minutes left in the third quarter. Davenport scored the first five points of the run.

Indiana's biggest lead was 77-60 on Hoffman's 7-footer with 5.6 seconds left in the third. Johnson's 3-pointer at the buzzer made it 77-63 entering the fourth.

A late 14-5 run cut the Fever's lead to 85-80 on Taurasi's layup with 1:23 to play. But Sutton-Brown responded with a basket inside, then January and Douglas put the game away with free throws.
 

(Guru's Notes: This is the second of a triple-post. Notes of the day are just below this post, while AP coverage of Game 2 of the WNBA Finals are just above. Here is the AP's Doug Feinberg's report on Thursday's activity in Washington, where the Guru is planning to make an appearance Sunday. And attention NCAA, the Guru may be in your neighborhood prior to Game 4 in Indy next week.)

 College trio making mark at USA basketball camp

  By Doug Feinberg

   AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON — With their college basketball season two weeks away, Maya Moore, Tina Charles, and Jayne Appel are getting quite a preseason workout.

The three college All-Americans were among the 23 players invited to train with the U.S. women's basketball team and have the opportunity to make the 2010 world championship team and 2012 Olympic team.

"It truly is an honor to be invited here," said Moore, who is only entering her junior year at UConn. "To play with the best in the country is amazing."

The opportunity isn't lost on U.S. coach Geno Auriemma, who also coaches Moore and Charles at Connecticut.

"Well that to me is the greatest benefit for them," Auriemma said. "They get to prepare for their season by playing and working against some of the best players in the world. They have to compete every practice, so from that standpoint it's the best thing possible thing for them that they could be doing. There was no way they were able to get this back home."

Having their own coach in charge has made the transition a lot easier for Charles and Moore.

"It really has made a difference," Moore said. "We know the drills, we know the way coach is. It's not like we have to learn a completely new system in a short period of time."

While Moore and Charles have been able to play, Appel has been forced to sit on the side and watch practice as she recovers from offseason surgery on her left knee to repair the meniscus. It was the second such procedure on the knee in less than a year.

"I really wanted to get out there and play but thought about it, and with the season coming up I didn't want to risk anything," Appel said. "I have so much more to learn to play at that next level to play professionally and overseas. To watch the footwork to watch the little tricks they know will benefit both Tina and me with our game next year."

Despite not seeing her play this week, Auriemma has been impressed with Appel. She averaged 16.1 points and 9.2 rebounds during her junior season at Stanford.

"I was really hoping that she'd be available," said Auriemma, who had recruited her to come to Connecticut when she was still in high school before losing out to the Cardinal. "We're not really deep at that spot and I think her game is well suited for a team like this because she's such an unbelievably difficult player to guard in the lane and it would open up so many more opportunities for us. But maybe next September she'll play for me."

Charles is coming off a tremendous NCAA tournament run last spring when she helped guide Connecticut to a perfect 39-0 record. She followed that up with stellar play for the U.S. team at the World University games this past summer.

"All the hard work has paid off since we were little," said Charles, who started playing in the U.S. system when she was still in high school. "Showing our dedication to USA basketball. To be considered among the best is a great feeling."

Even though the three are still in college they have more than held their own on the court in the first two days of practice showing they belong.

They're not in awe of their U.S. teammates, yet there are still times that they step back and take in the incredible experience.

"It didn't hit me until we took the picture this morning with all of them," Appel said. "I couldn't really believe I was here. It's a tremendous opportunity for us to give show them what we can do."

Charles is the only one of the three who has a chance to continue with the U.S. national team to Russia after the training camp is over to play in the three-day tournament there if she is selected. The senior cleared her class schedule so that she would be able to go.

Still all three have a bright future with U.S. basketball in front of them.
 

(Guru's Notes: This is the first of a blog post trifecta. This includes comments and news arriving via email. The post above this one, if the Guru handles this right, which is always an adventure on this operating system, will be Doug Feinberg's AP coverage from USA women's basketball camp in Washington, and the top of the line will be AP coverage of Game 2 of the WNBA playoffs.) 

By Mel Greenberg

  Tennessee Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt announced Thursday the hiring of former North Carolina State  assistant and interim coach Stephanie Glance as a special assistant on her staff with the Lady Vols.

  Glance had served a l.ongtime stint with the Wolfpack and twice filled in to run the program when the late Kay Yow  took leaves of absences to battle breast cancer, which ultimately took her life in late January of this year.

   Despite Yow's wishes for Glance to be her successor, athletic director Lee Fowler went in a different direction and hired Western Carolina coach Kellie Harper, a former star point guard of Summitt's at Tennessee.

   While Summitt gave Harper a strong endorsement for the job, reportedly she did so only after it was perfectly clear that Glance wasn't going to run the Wolfpack on a fulltime basis.

    Glance, in the interim, who was a finalist for the Cincinnati job that went to former Connecticut aide Jamelle Elliott, became the president of the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund founded by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

  “I am very excited that Stephanie is going be a part of our staff. She was superb as an assistant and as interim head coach at N.C. State,” said Summitt in a statement. “She did a great job working with the Wolfpack last season and keeping everything together. She is a very positive person, a very hard worker and understands what it takes to be at a program like Tennessee.”

   Glance said she is thrilled to work with Summitt.

    The Guru is thrilled that Glance again will be working on the sidelines.

             Connectcut Accent Continues at Temple

         Temple  made it official Thursday what the Guru and John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant previously reported that former UConn center Willnett Crockett, who graduated in 2006, will join second-year coach Tonya Cardoza with the Owls.

        Crockett replaces Brittany Hunter as the third assistant after Hunter left to pursue other opportunities outside of coaching. Jim Gillespie takes over as director of basketball operations, replacing Mary Wooley, who left to join former Temple assistant Ervin Monier on the staff of new Southern Cal coach Michael Cooper, who came on board with the elimination of Los Angeles by Phoenix in the WNBA Werstern Finals.

           Here's more detail off of Temple's Web Site.

       Crockett is a 2006 graduate of the University of Connecticut, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. A solid post player, Crockett played an intricate part in two Final Fours at UConn, where Cardoza was an assistant coach at the time. During her four-year career, Crockett helped the squad to two BIG EAST regular season titles, two BIG EAST Tournament titles and two National Championships. She was also a part of a Division I-record 70-game winning streak from 2001-03.

Upon the completion of her college career, Crockett was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks in the second round (22nd pick overall) of the 2006 WNBA Draft. Crockett played for the Phoenix Mercury as well as overseas in such places as Africa, Latvia and Lithuania.

“Will played for me at Connecticut, and is someone who knows how to win and knows how to get the best out of others,” said Cardoza. “This is her first coaching stint, but she’s already had a huge impact on the players, particularly with the freshmen. I have so much trust in her, and so much respect for her.”

Gillespie is familiar with the Owls’ program and its student-athletes, having spent nearly a year as an academic specialist with the Temple Student-Athlete Academic Advisor & Support Center. Earlier in his career, Gillespie held a similar position at La Salle University, and also worked as an administrative assistant for the men’s basketball program at La Salle.

Gillespie’s coaching experience includes a two-year stint at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia where he was an assistant coach and also an interim head coach at the end of the 2003-04 season. At the Division I level, Gillespie worked as a volunteer assistant coach at Hawaii from 1999-2000.

In 2008, Gillespie earned his master’s degree in instructional leadership from Neumann College. He attended La Salle as an undergraduate and earned his bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education in 1999. He went on to serve as a special education teacher at a number of schools in Philadelphia and New Jersey.

Gillespie has worked for numerous basketball camps, including the summer camp at the University of Connecticut from 2000-05 along with Cardoza who was an assistant coach at UConn during that time.

“Jim has been a part of our program since last year in a different way, and the players really respect him and already have a great relationship with him,” said Cardoza. “He has already been a great addition to our staff and is a really hard worker. We’re extremely happy to have him on board.”
 

                                  TV Cats

     The Big East released its massive women's basketball television schedule, which includes multiple networks, and Villanova will get four exposures on the season.

     As previous mentioned through Temple and the Atlantic Ten, Villanova's visit to the Owls on Dec. 20 will be aired on the CBS College Sports Networtk as will the Wildcats' Big East home game against Syracuse.

     Villanova's visit to Notre Dame, expected to be listed high in the weekly polls this season, will air on the regional Big East network as will a visit to the Pavilion from Seton Hall.

                                WNBA Dream Honors

         Atlanta's Marynell Meadors, who took the second-year Dream to second place in the East and a playoff berth after only four victories in last season's inaugural season, was named coach of the year,

        Meanwhile,  Atlanta newcomer Angel McCoughtry was named rookie of the year.

        Meadors was the original coach of the former WNBA's Charlotte Sting and actually was once one of the Guru's charter coaches on the AP voting board at the outset of the poll in 1976-77 when she was at then-national power Tennessee Tech.

       McCoughtry is in Washington at USA Training Camp where she got the word. Ironically, she is now working under Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, who guided the Huskies over her former Louisville squad in the NCAA title game last April in St. Louis.

                          New WNBA Data on Old Jerseys

                      The WNBA on Thursday listed the top-selling player jerseys and also team merchandise Thursday.

                         Here's the rankings:

 TOP 10 MOST POPULAR PLAYER JERSEYS:
1.        Candace Parker – Los Angeles Sparks        
2.        Lisa Leslie – Los Angeles Sparks                        
3.        Becky Hammon – San Antonio Silver Stars
4.        Diana Taurasi – Phoenix Mercury        
5.        Shameka Christon – New York Liberty
6.        Essence Carson – New York Liberty
7.        Sue Bird – Seattle Storm
8.        Janel McCarville – New York Liberty        
9.        Angel McCoughtry – Altanta Dream  
10.        Deanna Nolan – Detroit Shock

TOP 5 MOST POPULAR TEAM MERCHANDISE:
1.        Los Angeles Sparks
2.        New York Liberty
3.        Seattle Storm
4.        San Antonio Silver Stars
5.        Washington Mystics

     -- Mel      

(Guru's Notes: This is the AP advance of Thursday's game. Doug Feinberg's coverage of Olympic training camp is just above this post.

  The Guru in mentioning awards early this week forgot about the coach of the year, which will be presented before the start of Game 2. It was a wide open race this year with several outstanding jobs, but if Indiana's Lin Dunn was getting the award, one would think the league would wait until Sunday when the series moves to Indianapolis. Marynell Meadors, who led the second-year Atlanta Dream to a second-place finish in the East and a playoff berth would be a top contender, as might Phoenix's Corey Gaines for turning in the league's best record.)

  -- Mel Greenberg

By Bob Baum

 AP Sports Writer

 PHOENIX  — The Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever have a tough act to follow in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals.

Phoenix's record-shattering 120-116 overtime victory in Game 1 Tuesday night still had the Mercury's Diana Taurasi shaking her head on Wednesday.

"It was huge shot after shot," she said. "It was exciting to be in. It was really exciting to be in. I haven't gotten a chance to see it and I don't want to see it. I always say with games like that, I don't want to go back and watch them."

Instead, Taurasi and the rest of the Mercury will try to look ahead to Game 2 of the best-of-5 series on Thursday night, when they will look to avoid a letdown.

Phoenix coach Corey Gaines tried to paint his team as one "with a chip on our shoulder."

"We're still the team people don't care for the way we play," he said. "It's not traditional play. There are still people who say you don't win playing that way."

It's hard to believe anyone didn't care for the way the teams played in Tuesday night's opener, the highest-scoring game in WNBA history.

Everyone expected Phoenix to play at breakneck speed, but the Fever matched that tempo.

"They kind of hurt us with our own medicine at some points of the game," Taurasi said.

Indiana coach Lin Dunn would like to see a bit more defense, and maybe not quite so much speed, from a team that ranked third in fewest points allowed in the regular season.

"I graded our defense a C-plus," she said. "I didn't think we did well some of the things we usually do well. I didn't think our transition defense was as good as it could be, our two-man defense was as good as it could be. I didn't think we defended the dribble drive as well as we can, and we certainly didn't box out as well as we can."

Still, the Fever tied it on Katie Douglas' 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds to go to send the game into overtime.

Indiana obviously is not intimidated by the ultra-up-tempo Phoenix offense installed by Paul Westhead, coach when the Mercury won the WNBA title two seasons ago.

"I think that we showed we can play with this team," said Douglas, who scored 30 in the game. They have tremendous firepower but we have some firepower as well."

Douglas traced the Fever's defensive problems to being accustomed to the slower play in the Eastern Conference.

"Because they (the Mercury) move at such a fast pace, we weren't able to set it up, where in the Eastern Conference it's a little more stagnant, set it up, grind it out power game," Douglas said.

The Fever like the up-tempo game, too, she said.

"But we need now to recognize when to pull it back and make them work defensively as well," Douglas said.

Phoenix improved to 10-0 in games this season when the Mercury scored at least 100 points. The Mercury are 22-2 overall in such games. On the other hand, it was only the second time Indiana had topped 100.

"Coach Dunn is an excellent coach, and I'm sure she'll make some changes defensively against us, try to slow us down," Phoenix point guard Cappie Pondexter said, "probably see a little more pressing on their end, kind of slow the point guard down and I'm sure we'll see a lot of trapping. But we'll make adjustments as well."

Besides, Gaines said, the Mercury can only be slowed down so much.

"I don't want to see 75-72," he said. "That's not our style."

Indiana's Tamika Catchings had just eight points, 10 below her average this season, but harassed Taurasi, the league's MVP and leading scorer, into a 5-for-17 shooting night before fouling out in the overtime.

"I think Catch will play smarter tomorrow night," Dunn said. "I thought she was a little overaggressive and maybe didn't play as smart on defense as she can. I thought she should have driven to the basket more. I think you will see her do that tomorrow night."

Phoenix Suns coach Alvin Gentry was providing free tickets for the upper bowl at US Airways Center after their general manager Steve Kerr did the same for the opener.

While the place was loud, there still were many empty seats.

By Mel Greenberg

   And the winner for best WNBA regular season performance game after game:

    That would be former Connecticut star Diana Taurasi of the Western Conference postseason and regular-season champion Phoenix Mercury.

   The league announced early Monday afternoon that the WNBA's Most Valuable Player award, determined in a media vote, would be made public Tuesday night in Phoenix prior to the Mercury's tipoff against the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Fever in the opener of the best-of-five title series.

   Phoenix is going after its second championship in three seasons, while the Fever are seeking their first after attaining the conference title for the first time. Indiana also won the regular season and title and had the second-best overall record behind the Mercury.

  Form held in the WNBA Monday because soon after the heads-up from the league to its media network, while the Guru was out of pocket for a few hours, the Arizona Republic announced Taurasi would receive her first MVP award as a pro.

  The way life works in the WNBA and the NBA, and several other places, the hometown paper of the winner usually receives a whisper, also known in the business as a leak, ahead of the officially announcement.

   Even if that had not occurred, other past practices would indicate Taurasi as the winner -- unless her teammate and former Big East rival Cappie Pondexter, an all-American out of Rutgers, was going to steal her thunder.

 On Sunday night a league source told the Guru the award was coming sooner. Well, Taurasi was the top overall vote-getter in being named to the first-five All-WNBA team with 201 points ahead of Seatttle's former MVP awardee Lauren Jackson, who picked up 179.

 Taurasi was also the league's top scorer with a 20.4 average.

  If Indiana's Tamika Catchings, who also made the first team, was going to be named, the league would wait until Sunday so she could receive the honor when the series moves to the Midwest for Game 3.

  Surprisingly at this hour (midnight going into Tuesday in the East), the Guru did not see similar reporting from the other group that gets supplied whispers on all matters UConn -- his contingent of colleagues comprising the horde, though the Guru did not check all the blogs before writing this report.

  On Saturday night, when Phoenix's victory ended the illustrious career of Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie, who is now retired, the Guru noted the three-time Olympic gold medalist could begin writing her future acceptance speech to be made after her first eligibility for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

  Taurasi, though many years away from her final chapter, is on a similar track which closely matches that of Leslie.

   The native of California was part of three NCAA champions at Connecticut, while Leslie's Southern Cal teams fell short of Final Four status.

     Taurasi is one behind Leslie in Olympic gold medals with two, and if Phoenix prevails over the next week or so, her WNBA title collection will also be two.

     That said, there's still one more individual postseason award to be handed out -- Rookie of the Year.

    The newcomer honor might also go in the Mercury's direction with former Auburn star DeWanna Bonner.

     A key would be if the award is announced to be given Thursday night when Game 2 is also played in Phoenix.

     Angel McCoughtry out of Louisville, the NCAA runnerup in April to the Big East rival Huskies, had been considered a slight favorite.

      Now depending how slick the marketing wonks are and considering that the Atlanta Dream rookie reports to USA Basketball training camp in Washington Tuesday night, a clear clue as to the identity of the winner would be if the nation's capital is chosen as the site for the rookie presentation.

    One reason to give it to McCoughtry in Washington is she would be less than a hour from her hometown of Baltimore, giving what's left of the local women's media group an opportunity to be on hand for the presentation.

                          Odds and Ends

      The Guru, around attempting to get to the Eastern site for the finals and to D.C. for the USA camp, begins  the annual drudgery of asseembling the composite local schedule, with potential national stops inluded, and he's noticed a few things.

      Dawn Staley will make her first hometown appearance as the South Carolina coach when the former Temple mentor who left a year ago brings the Gamecocks to Philadelphia to play in St. Joseph's tournament.

     The three-time Olympic gold medalist, who is also on a Hall of Fame track after her playing career ended in 2006, has one of the nation's top freshmen in Kelsey Bone out of Texas.

      The game brings Staley to the recently renovated Hawk Hill home of St. Joseph's where she practiced many a day as a player and also played in public league championships, the Guru believes.

       South Carolina's opponent will be Boston University, coached by former La Salle star Kelly Greenberg, a proficient guard who coached Penn to its only two Ivy titles, which were won this decade before she left for the Terriers, which has turned into an America East contender.

      With Penn's schedule posted in the last week, how's this for a challenging start for new coach Mike McLaughlin, who perenially led Holy Family to Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference titles in Division II?

     The Quakers' first game is up the street at Colonial Athletic Association champion Drexel on Sunday, Nov. 15.

     Then it's another local trip to Villanova the following Wednesday for his Big Five debut against the legendary Harry Perretta.

    Duquesne, coached by former Penn State star Suzie McConnell Serio, visits on Saturday, Nov. 21.

     The following weekend, the Quakers will open at the Northwestern tournament against Big 12 power Iowa State.

       It appears all four Big Five games will be on the road -- how did that happen? -- with the Quakers also visiting St. Joseph's (Jan. 13), Temple (Jan. 23), and La Salle (Jan. 2), although the Explorer's game is missing on the Penn printout the Guru made while it is listed at La Salle's site.

     The Quakers got one break in the Ivy League in that the first five contests will be at The Palestra against Princeton (Jan. 9), Yale (Jan. 29), Brown (Jan. 30), Dartmouth (Feb. 5) and Harvard (Feb. 6).

    The bad news, of course, is it will be all road trips the rest of the way except for the Columbia-Cornell weekend on Feb. 26-27.

   And for those who have asked, former Penn coach Pat Knapp was hired as an assistant to new Hawaii coach Dana Takahara-Dias.

    Meanwhile, Temple's recently released schedule shows the Owls playing seven games in its former home of McGonigle Hall, including Duke in a major nonconference game on  New Year's Eve.

     The Owls will open the season there playing Illinois (Nlov. 13) and Auburn (Nov. 17). The other games are against Ohio U. (Dec. 10), Fordham (Jan. 13), Penn (Jan. 23), and Atlantic 10 rival Massachusetts (Feb. 10).

     The Liascouras Center contests feature Eastern Michigan (Nov. 24 - doubleheader with men), Villanova (Dec. 20 on CBS college network TV), St. Joseph's (Jan. 16 doubleheader with men), St. Bonaventure (Jan. 30 doubleheader with men), A-10 defending champion Charlotte (Feb. 13 doubleheader with men), Duquesne (Feb. 17), and George Washington (Feb. 27), the last day of the regular-season and conference schedule.

    Looks like an economics move to the Guru, but he'll check on it.

    Delle Who? Delle Where? -- It is going to be interesting to see whether Delaware redshirt-freshman sensation Elena Delle Donne from nearby Ursuline Academy makes the Colonial Athletic Association 10-member preseason team when the squad and conference team predictions are announced at the annual media day in Washington on Oct. 20.

    The Guru, due to his coverage of Drexel, which is the defending champion, was again asked as a women's media rep to vote on the finish of the 12 teams and pick the squad.

     A prospectus is at the CAA's site to provde detail as a reference point.

      Well, and it might be somebody's wish at the Blue Hen level, couldn't check on it Monday, but talk about low key after the hubub a year ago when the nation's top incoming freshman decided to renege her Connecticut scholarship and play volleyball at Delaware. Almost a year later she announced in June her decision to return to basketball and play at her new alma mater.

           First, Delle Donne is not even mentioned in the quick hits section.

          Then the ballot directions created some confusion because it said vote for returning players, though the Guru sent an email asking he could vote for returning volleyball players who are really playing basketball.

         He later learned anyone appearing on a roster in the prospectus, which is not the actual CAA guide which comes later, is eligible and the Guru was able to make a quick adjustment.

         This is no knock on the league office, which does a great job and has been instrumental in helping postseason coverage in the tournament from afar when expense restrictions precluded an on-site appearance.

           In another CAA musing, what might be even more intriguing is where Old Dominion lands on the forecasts with only two returning starters frrom a team that had never lost a postseason CAA game until Drexel beat the Monarchs in the semifinals.

        The league will be very experienced with a slew of statistical leaders back including the reigning CAA player of the year in Drexel senior Gabriella Marginean.

          Moving, along,as previously mentioned ahead of the event, the Guru traveled to the frontier section of Northeast Philadelphia Thursday night at Somerton Springs for the farewell tribute dinner to David Kessler, the longtime director of the Dept. of Recreation's NCAA Women's Summer League, who has retired as a city employee.

    It was a classy affair with Philadelphia University's Tom Shirley, West Chester's Deidre Kane, and former Penn assistant Joe McGeever in attendance.

       The Guru has already informed Kessler he plans to make use of Kessler's free time by giving him some computer input work as part of some potential new projects in the pipeline.

      Kessler is thrilled to be on his own in that he says he now can go to a bunch of games in the winter and watch players from his league perform at their various schools.

       During his acceptance remarks, he quipped that Shirley's players never compiled great records in the summer when the Division II athletes had to go against many top Division I stars.

      But then the Rams in the winter usually were averaging 20 wins a season.

    "I'd like to think I had something to do with that," Kessler deadpanned.

    -- Mel