Take care of the ball

The Houston Comets played well enough to win once again; but, they lost (again) to the Phoenix Mercury Tuesday night 76 to 74.

The Comets turned the ball over 21 times in the game.

Despite the great shot attempt forward Tina Thompson had at the end of the game, Karleen Thompson told the media the game should not have come down to the last play.

Listen to her comments: "...take care of the ball..."

The Comets are now 8 and 18 on the season with just eight regular season games remaining.

Coach Thompson Responds to Win Against Minnesota

"I'm happy about todays win, but also what I told the ladies was a win is not just a win when you didn't execute the way you were suppose to." "We have to find a way to put some wins togethe, and in order for us to do that we have to stick to the small things that are working for us right now."

"Regarding killer intinct, I don't know if you can teach it, but I know that we have a group of players on the team that have it, we just have to put 40 minutes together."

"I feel that if we play Comet's basketball that we could very well be on our way to winning basketball games in bunches at a time and not just one here and one there."

Minnesota's Coach Speaks about Loss

"Anytime you go on the road its a tough game, and tonight was not any different, tonight Houston played more minutes of the game then we did, they only had one spot where they lasped and we had a couple."

"I do have to say that the early start of todays game at 11:00 am had some effect on us because we got in late yesturday afternoon." "Overall we didn't play a good game today."

HRR w/ Lynette Woodard

After tonight's Comets - Fever game, I had the opportunity to speak with one of the legends of women's basketball -- Ms. Lynette Woodard.

Earlier Tuesday, Lynette was a guest on Sports Rap (http://www.kcohradio.com/) and she spoke with host Ralph Cooper.

My interview with Lynette took place in the "Lexus Lounge"; so, there's a lot of background noise. I'll transcribe the interview sometime tomorrow (I hope); but, here's the interview:

"...more fans, more coverage..."

KT: "we fought hard"

The Houston Comets played well Tuesday night; but, it wasn't good enough as the Indiana Fever edged the Comets 79 to 77.

I spoke with Comets head coach Karleen Thompson after the game:

"...we fought hard..."

Exposure for Girls Hoops

This past weekend, I watched girls high school / AAU / grassroots basketball at Cy Fair HS, Cy Falls, and Cinco Ranch HS. Two tournaments took place in H-town (that I knew about); and, I did my best to see as much as action as possible.

I talked with college coaches and watched talented young ladies play basketball practically all day Saturday and Sunday.

After this weekend, I have the desire and the passion to promote girls' / women's basketball more and more.

I spoke with a lot of people who share that same desire; and, one of those people is Mr. Cedrick Lafleur -- owner and director of the CyFair Texans program.

Cedrick organized the 2007 adidas CyFair Classic which featured 98 girls AAU teams participating and numerous college coaches in attendance.Jerry Woodley and I interviewed Cedrick Sunday afternoon.

Here is the interview: "...exposure for high school girls basketball..."

Jerry and I are part of the six-member "Prep Talk" team which is webcast each Saturday morning on HoustonSports.com from 9am to 12:15pm.

KG chat w/ DeMya

I attended tonight's start of the 2007 Nike Houston Pro City at Fonde Rec Center; and, guess who I saw in the crowd...Sacramento Monarchs' forward DeMya Walker. As she slowly walked off the basketball court, I spoke with her "off the record" and asked her how she was doing. A few minutes later, I figured, "what the heck? I'll ask her if she'll agree to an interview."

She said "Sure."

Due to the music playing and the game inside, we talked outside.

Take a listen: "...bend my knee by myself..."

"Never the aggressors"

The Houston Comets lost 71 to 55 to the Seattle Storm Friday night.

The Comets attempted three free throws the entire game. Those attempts came in the first half. The Comets did not take one free throw in the second half. The lack of foul shot attempts is a good indication of the team's lack of aggressiveness in the ball game.

After the game, Comets head coach Karleen Thompson told the media her team was "...never the aggressors..." in the ball game.

She's right.

Seattle also out rebounded the Comets 35 to 28.

Seattle's Anne Donovan

Without All-Star guard Sue Bird (out of action after arthroscopic surgery on her left knee), the Seattle Storm did something Friday night they didn't do last week versus the Houston Comets -- win.

Led by Lauren Jackson -- the best women's basketball player in the world -- Seattle defeated Houston 71 to 55. Jackson finished the game with 28 points (11 for 17 from the field); 13 rebounds; and three blocked shots.

After the game, Storm head coach Anne Donovan spoke with the media.

Listen to a few of Coach Donovan's comments: "...very focused on it..."

US Jones Cup Team

I took advantage of today's national holiday to do something I enjoy a great deal -- watch basketball practice. The women's Jones Cup team is practicing this week inside Reed Arena on Texas A&M's campus as the team prepares to compete in the upcoming Jones Cup competition.

Led by Texas A&M associate women's basketball head coach Vic Schaefer in association with Athletes In Action, the U.S. will be one of seven countries participating in the single-round robin tournament along with two teams representing Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Korea. This is the first year that the women's Jones Cup team will be sponsored by AIA which is an associate member of USA Basketball. The team will train in College Station from July 1-7 and will depart for Taiwan on July 8.

Baylor University's Rachel Allison and Jhasmin Player are joined by an all-star collegiate cast comprised of La Toya Micheaux of Texas A&M, Heather Ezell of Iowa State, Briann January of Arizona State, Sarah-Jo Lawrence of George Washington, Jackie McFarland of Colorado, Angie Nelp of Colorado State, Kendra Reed of Southern Mississippi, Leah Rush of Oklahoma, Brittanie Taylor-James of North Carolina A&T and Katie Vieth of Kentucky.

Some points of the the morning session were not very crisp; but, from what I was told, today was much better than the first practice which took place on Monday which means the team is already improving. Practice was long; but, I enjoyed watching every bit of it.

Coach Schaefer spoke to us (me and Jerry L. Woodley of "Prep Talk" --- www.HoustonSports.com) after practice.

Here are some of his comments: "...highly competitive environment..."