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Greetings from the National Team
(3 October 01)
It was quite a Spring. The Queen's run for the Provincial Championship, beating Toronto, Laurentian and then McMaster. Heading to Edmonton for the CIAU (now CIS) National Championship and knocking off the defending Champs, Victoria, before falling to Alberta and Calgary. Then during the Championship game, I met with Canada's National Team Head Coach, Bev Smith and accepted her generous offer to become her assistant coach. Very quickly I went from the end of a great university season to the start of a great opportunity to work with Canada's National Team.
Identification camps were run across the country in April & May to help identify players to be offered a position in a pilot project known as the 'Mega Camp.' The Mega Camp brought together 34 athletes, ranging in age from 16 to 30+ for two weeks in a residential camp setting. Coincidentally, the camp was held at Queen's University and was an overwhelming success. The framework for three teams were formed from the 34 athletes: a Jr. team which competed at the Francophonie games in Ottawa in July; a FISU games team (university players) which competed in China in August (that was the team that beat the USA); and the Senior team which competed in the Tournament of the Americas (COPABA) in Brazil in September. A bonus in the Mega Camp was the arrival of a Japanese professional team that came to Kingston for a week, just to scrimmage with the Canadian teams.
With the senior team, we spent two weeks in Toronto at the end of August practicing in the Air Canada Centre in the Toronto Raptors practice facility. Obviously a great place to train (complete with weight room attached) we had 13 athletes working hard at the two-a-day practices. Senior team veterans, Stacey Dales could not attend because of schooling commitments at Oklahoma U. and Tammy Sutton-Brown was busy competing in the WNBA finals as a starting post for the Charlotte Sting. Both players, however, would join us in Brazil for the tournament.
In early September, we headed to Sao Luis, Brazil to acclimatize and prepare for the tournament. To help with your geography knowledge, Sao Luis is 2 ½ degrees below the equator -- the sun is directly over the equator on September 21 -- in other words -- it was hot! But I get ahead of myself.
We left our Toronto hotel (where we stayed during the training camp) at 10:30 am on Tuesday, September 4th, heading for the airport. We were scheduled to fly to Atlanta at 12:50 but actually left at 1:40pm. From Atlanta, we were to fly to Sao Paulo, Brazil at 8:15pm -- the flight left at 11:00pm and arrived in Sao Paulo at 9:15 the next morning. (By the way, flying to Sao Paulo when you only want to go to Sao Luis, is like flying to Toronto and ending up in Vancouver -- just a wee bit past your intended destination) We missed our connecting flight from Sao Paulo to Sao Luis so we ended up in Sao Paulo for the day, scheduled to leave at 7:10pm. The flight actually left at 7:30pm (getting better) partly thanks to the pilot's "Mario Andretti" approach to taxiing around the runway prior to takeoff. (I have never been on a plane that moved so quickly while on the runway) It was not a direct flight to Sao Luis, however, as we headed into the country's interior to land in the nation's capital, Brazilia. We flew out of Brazilia at 10:10pm (scheduled for 9:40pm) arriving in Sao Luis (which we actually flew over at 6:00am Wednesday morning) at 12:20am Thursday morning. So, after leaving the hotel in Toronto on Tuesday morning, my head finally hit the pillow in Sao Luis at 2:30am Thursday -- but not before I had a shower -- hey, after two days of travelling anyone can get a little stinky! Welcome to international travel. Sure makes our Queen's trip to Sudbury each year feel like a trip to the corner store.
Below is a couple of emails that I wrote while in Brazil:
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
We addressed the issue of the terrorist attacks with the team about 1 hour before the game -- Bev handled
it very well -- as did the team. (Bear in mind that Stacey Dales is going to school in Oklahoma, Cal Bouchard is returning to Boston prior to heading to play in Europe, Tammy Sutton-Brown plays for the Charlotte Sting - WNBA and Bev now makes her home in Oregon.)
As for the game.... The stadium was about 3/4 full -- est. 6,000 people -- not quite as crazy as the day before (Brazil had the day off), but none-the-less, you couldn't hear a thing at times. Twenty minutes before the game, we headed out for warm-up -- the players met at centre court, waved to the crowd and then proceeded to throw mini Canada Basketballs into the crowd -- they loved it. We played an amazing first half against Chile --
dominating in every category. Cal Bouchard (Aurora, ON) went 2-3 from the 3-point line and 5 for 5 from
the 2-point line in the game. Nicki Johnson (Niagara Falls, ON) also was very strong with 3, 3-pointers and
a couple of 2-pointers in the game. We lead 48-10 at the half. All 12 players saw action in the half. Although we were not as sharp in the second half, it did allow us to experiment and practice different defenses. The final score was 78-39. What was very impressive was the 33 points contributed by Canada's bench. At the start of the next game (Argentina vs. Mexico) the crowd had a minute of silence in recognition of the disaster in the US. The US team chose not to participate in this tournament, as they have already qualified for next year's World Championships by virtue of their Olympic Gold.
Game report (Canada vs Cuba) Sept. 12
The stadium was standing room only, and, of course, incredibly noisy. Cuba is a very athletic, quick and aggressive team with a dominant centre at 6'4". We played very well as the game progressed through the
first half (first 2 minutes of the game were shaky). Cuba came with their heavy pressure mid-way through
the first quarter, only to have us break it and score a lay-up. That made them back off. We held the lead
almost the entire first half with Cuba switching between man to man defense and zone defense trying to
find something that would work. Michelle Hendry had a great first half scoring 14 points and leading Canada
to 7 point half time lead (49 -42). In the second half, Canada started very slowly, surrendering the first 4 points in less than a minute. Things settled down and we regained a 7 point lead early in the fourth quarter. Fouls were becoming a significant problem as Sutton-Brown, Hendry and Stacey Dales all had four fouls. We faced another problem, not common to basketball in Canada -- smoke inhalation. There were grass fires set near the open air stadium that caused a blanket of smoke to waft through the stadium, complete with ash that began
settling everywhere. They refused to stop the game, although Bev considered keeping our players off the
floor. None-the-less, the game went on and Cuba turned up the pressure forcing Canada to turn over the
ball or take difficult shots. Cuba gained the lead for the first time in the second half with only a minute to go in the fourth. With 20 seconds to go and Canada down by 1, Sutton-Brown was fouled. She missed both shots, but in a scramble for the rebound, Nicki Johnson managed to tie up a loose ball. In a rare occasion, Canada managed to secure the resulting jump ball and worked for a good scoring opportunity. Cal Bouchard took a jumper from the elbow with 4 seconds to go, missing -- but Diane Norman grabbed the rebound and went back up, releasing the shot just before the buzzer sounded -- it missed but she was fouled. With no time on the clock, she hit the front end and missed the second shot - leaving the game tied at 68. In overtime, Cuba increased their pressure using their very athletic guards, using a double-teaming 2-3 zone which kept Canada from getting into a strong offensive deployment area -- constantly being forced back toward centre court. Further, they forced a number of turnovers, resulting in easy scores, going on to win by 5. Sutton-Brown, Dales and Hendry had all fouled out of the game.
Canada vs Brazil, Sept. 13
Playing the host team, it was all you would expect. The stadium was packed with standing room only and a
couple of thousand people outside the gates. Canada played a solid first half, taking the crowd out of the game and entering the second half with a 4 point lead. The third quarter was again a thorn in Canada's side, as their offensive point production fell drastically, surrendering the lead. Nikki Johnson (Niagara Falls) lead the team with great defense, holding the tournament's top scorer to 10 points. Brazil used some pressure to force Canada into some difficult shots and a few turnovers. Clever passing and deadly 3 point shooting allowed the host team to finish with a 7 point win, much to the delight (and screaming) of the home crowd. In order for Canada to qualify for the 2002 World Championships in China, we must beat Argentina tomorrow at 3:00pm local time.
Canada vs Argentina, Sept. 14
Today the Canadian senior women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Argentina, 51-50, in their final game at the COPABA Tournament of the Americas. Only the top three teams from this world-qualifying event move on. The top three teams are Brazil, Cuba and Argentina. Canada finished fourth.
Teresa Kleindienst (Mission, BC) opened the scoring with a three-point shot at the 8:00 minute mark of the first quarter. Both teams struggled to put the ball in the net and neither team allowed an offensive rebound. The score at the end of the first was 9-8 in favour of Argentina.
Canada's shooting heated up in the second period. Canada and Argentina traded three point baskets and a small lead for most of the quarter. Carolyn Ganes (Saskatoon, SK) entered the game at 3:42 when Michelle Hendry (Terrace, BC) picked up her third foul. Isabelle Grenier (Ste-Foy, QC) also came in for Nikki Johnson (Niagara Falls, ON). Ganes and Grenier, both rookies on the senior team, made an immediate impact. Grenier nailed a three-point shot with 41 seconds remaining until the break and Canada went into the half with a 27-22 lead.
The third quarter stayed quite even. Argentina continued to play tough, aggressive full court defense. Grenier and Stacey Dales (Brockville, ON) both hit three-point shots. Dales picked up her fourth foul with 22 seconds left in the quarter but Canada was still ahead, 40-34.
Argentina attacked quickly to start the fourth quarter. Grenier scored back-to-back three pointers but Argentina continued to chip away at the lead. The score was 48-45 at the 4:00 minute mark. With 1:45 remaining, Argentina missed two free throws but recovered the offensive rebound. Canada played strong defence and Dianne Norman (Fredericton, NB) came away with the rebound. The score was 50-48 for Canada.
A foul on an offensive screen with 35 seconds left gave Argentina the ball back and they called a timeout.
With 14 seconds remaining, both teams battled for a rebound and a jump ball was called. Argentina recovered the ball and with two seconds on the clock they scored a three-point shot, which gave them a 51-50 win.
Grenier was the only Canadian athlete to score in double figures. She finished with 15 points shooting 100% (5-5) from beyond the three-point line.
Lots of things have happened over the last couple of months. On the Queen's front, the fall and winter schedule has been finalized. Significant changes include:
In exhibition play we will travel to Montreal to play in McGill's tournament, then off to Halifax for Dalhousie's tournament. We will, once again host the Tindall Tournament with St. Mary's, Brock and McGill in attendance. Over the Christmas break we will head back to Waterloo to play in their tournament.
In the more immediate future, the Queen's Basketball Camps are all registered full and set to get underway on August 20th. Of particular interest is the Elite Training Camp (also full) which begins Sunday, August 26th and will include all 12 returning players from last year's Queen's team.
Tryouts for Queen's begin on the first day of classes (September 10) with team selection expected to be complete toward the end of the following week -- just in time for the Alumnae Game scheduled for Sunday, September 23rd at 2:00 pm.
On the National Team Front:
I will be heading to Toronto August 23rd to begin a couple of days of tryouts for the National Team, followed by two weeks of training camp at the Air Canada Centre. September 5th we will head to San Luis, Brazil to compete in COPABA (tournament of the Americas). This is a qualifying tournament for the 2002 World Championships to be held in Beijing, China. I should be back in Canada on September 18th in time to assist with the final selection of the Queen's team. (I will have film footage to review from both the Elite Camp and tryouts.)
And that is what the next few weeks hold. If you haven't already done so, be sure to check out the "Photo Gallery" section on the web site -- there are some great shots, including photos from the 1930's & 40's.
Did I mention it was hot in Sao Luis? You are probably thinking -- what's the big deal, you play in an air-conditioned gym, right? WRONG! We practiced in one 'open-air' facility (complete with hardwood floor) and played in another open-air facility that has just been completely refurbished for the games. Worst part is that they put down a synthetic floor - blah. I'm guessing it seats between 8 - 10,000 and it was packed beyond capacity -- Unbelievable -- couldn't hear yourself think. The type of structure also adds to the noise I'm sure -- lots of concrete and a steel roof structure. We left at half time of the Brazilian game (to beat the rush), only to find a mob waiting for us outside (people who couldn't get in because they were beyond capacity -- easily a couple of thousand more). They wanted our autographs on paper, t-shirts, body parts, etc. It got so crazy we had to retreat back into the stadium and wait for a police escort -- they set up 20 - 30 police officers to create a tunnel for us to get from the stadium to our bus -- it was unbelievable. The crowd wasn't hostile -- a little grabbing to try and get your autograph -- otherwise friendly, but just overpowering with a fair amount of pushing, etc. It took us over a half hour to leave the facility and get to our bus -- less than 50 yards away -- insane. Needless to say, these people are passionate about their sports, and, of course, love Canada. I'm sure we will drive the place crazy tomorrow/today (Tuesday) at the game. We plan to have all the players throw mini basketballs (with Canada Basketball on them) into the stands before the opening tip-off. We figure that will give us some good fan support for the tournament. As for the food here -- it is only average -- we have a buffet for every meal -- in the hotel. Half the stuff we are not allowed to eat -- only hot-cooked foods or unpeeled fruit. Can't eat any salads, coleslaw, cold veggies, dairy products that aren't cooked, etc. End up eating rice, chicken, pasta
(relatively plain), beef, and the occasional cooked veggie. Have been using a ton of "Jimmy" taco sauce -- cross between Durke's and Tobasco. I say hi to the head of the Hotel Kitchen operation every day and feel bad that I can't try all the stuff he has prepared -- although I don't understand his words, I know he really wants to please us with his food and presentation -- I keep signaling to him that everything is great, but he also notices that I don't try very many things.
(article courtesy of Michelle O'Keefe, Canada Basketball)
Where Has the Summer Gone?
(13 August 01)