Thoughts on ESPNU Invitational
I was in Tampa, FL, on Thursday, November 15, for a few reasons:
First, to see the ESPNU Invitational double-header: Duke vs. USF and Tennessee vs. Oklahoma.
Second, since Tampa is hosting the 2008 Women's Final Four (April 6 and 8), I wanted to check out Tampa as sort of a "scouting trip" to learn where the hotels (especially the media hotel); the St. Pete Times Forum; and a few of the hot spots were located.
Third, since I don't have ESPNU at my house, I wanted to see Candace Parker and Courtney Paris in person.
Mission accomplished.
Now, a few thoughts on the games.
Despite playing the game without starting guard Abby Waner (sprained ankle), Duke simply outclassed USF. Duke freshman Jasmine Thomas is a very impressive athlete. She's very quick and she's a great leaper, too. Center Chante Black was too tall (6'5) and too athletic for USF. Duke won the game easily 89 to 52.
The Oklahoma - Tennessee had an exciting ending; and, overall, the game lived up to a lot of the hype; however, the game featured too many whistles from the refs. Forty-four fouls (21 on Tennessee and 23 on OU) were called in the game. In addition to calling fouls, the refs called 'traveling' a great deal. (During the off season, the NCAA said the refs were encouraged to call 'traveling' more and more. Well, officials Erik Brewton, Mary Day, and Metta Roberts did just that throughout the ball game.)
The attendance was announced as 6,331 which is very good considering ESPN didn't market the game very much in the Tampa area. Most of the fans in attendance were Tennessee fans; so, the St. Pete Times Forum was filled with Lady Vols orange-clad people.
During the first part of the game, at 6:19 of the half, OU's Courtney Paris missed the second of two free throws; and, Tennessee's Candace Parker and freshman Vicki Baugh both grabbed the miss. The ball bounced off their hands and swished through the basket. Two points for OU. Simple, right? Apparently not so simple for the people inside ESPN' studio.
Those two points put the Sooners ahead 20 to 16. Everyone sitting at the scorer's table agreed on the score. However, after a few minutes, someone from the ESPN studio called to say the official scorers had the score incorrect. No one agreed with ESPN; so, for the remaining minutes of the first half and for much of the halftime, people were discussing the rules in order to justify their scoring decision.
I'm not talking about which OU player received credit for the points because, as I learned at halftime, the NCAA recently changed the rule to award the team for the points instead of "the player closest to the ball". For some reason, someone at ESPN (I never learned which person) apparently believed OU was credited with one too many point. Go figure. A free throw is missed. The ball is live. If it happens to bounce into the basket off a player on the court, it's worth two points. How difficult is that to understand?
Back to the game...
...Parker and teammate Shannon Bobbitt played the entire game for the Tennessee. Bobbitt scored a career-high 27 points while Parker scored 28 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Parker missed six of her 14 free throws; but, she's definitely gotten stronger in her upper body. Her skills on offense have improved; and, she played defense with a lot of intensity, too. No other Tennessee player scored in double figures. Tennessee committed 19 turnovers in the game.
Courtney Paris scored 19 points and pulled down 16 boards. She was called for three fouls in the first half; but, she didn't pick up another foul. Freshman guard Danielle Robinson added 14 points; four assists; and four steals. Robinson is legit. Or as Courtney told the media after the game, "She's good." Four other players scored 7 points; but, no other OU player scored in double digits. The Sooners turned the ball over 22 times. OU missed 12 of 25 free throws, too.
The game wasn't decided until the final seconds; so, all in all, the Tennessee - OU match up (which Tennessee won 70 to 67) was very entertaining -- especially considering this was just the first full week of the college basketball season. Hopefully, the game does a good job "generating some excitement" for the 2008 Final Four. Both teams hope to return to Tampa in April. I do, too.
First, to see the ESPNU Invitational double-header: Duke vs. USF and Tennessee vs. Oklahoma.
Second, since Tampa is hosting the 2008 Women's Final Four (April 6 and 8), I wanted to check out Tampa as sort of a "scouting trip" to learn where the hotels (especially the media hotel); the St. Pete Times Forum; and a few of the hot spots were located.
Third, since I don't have ESPNU at my house, I wanted to see Candace Parker and Courtney Paris in person.
Mission accomplished.
Now, a few thoughts on the games.
Despite playing the game without starting guard Abby Waner (sprained ankle), Duke simply outclassed USF. Duke freshman Jasmine Thomas is a very impressive athlete. She's very quick and she's a great leaper, too. Center Chante Black was too tall (6'5) and too athletic for USF. Duke won the game easily 89 to 52.
The Oklahoma - Tennessee had an exciting ending; and, overall, the game lived up to a lot of the hype; however, the game featured too many whistles from the refs. Forty-four fouls (21 on Tennessee and 23 on OU) were called in the game. In addition to calling fouls, the refs called 'traveling' a great deal. (During the off season, the NCAA said the refs were encouraged to call 'traveling' more and more. Well, officials Erik Brewton, Mary Day, and Metta Roberts did just that throughout the ball game.)
The attendance was announced as 6,331 which is very good considering ESPN didn't market the game very much in the Tampa area. Most of the fans in attendance were Tennessee fans; so, the St. Pete Times Forum was filled with Lady Vols orange-clad people.
During the first part of the game, at 6:19 of the half, OU's Courtney Paris missed the second of two free throws; and, Tennessee's Candace Parker and freshman Vicki Baugh both grabbed the miss. The ball bounced off their hands and swished through the basket. Two points for OU. Simple, right? Apparently not so simple for the people inside ESPN' studio.
Those two points put the Sooners ahead 20 to 16. Everyone sitting at the scorer's table agreed on the score. However, after a few minutes, someone from the ESPN studio called to say the official scorers had the score incorrect. No one agreed with ESPN; so, for the remaining minutes of the first half and for much of the halftime, people were discussing the rules in order to justify their scoring decision.
I'm not talking about which OU player received credit for the points because, as I learned at halftime, the NCAA recently changed the rule to award the team for the points instead of "the player closest to the ball". For some reason, someone at ESPN (I never learned which person) apparently believed OU was credited with one too many point. Go figure. A free throw is missed. The ball is live. If it happens to bounce into the basket off a player on the court, it's worth two points. How difficult is that to understand?
Back to the game...
...Parker and teammate Shannon Bobbitt played the entire game for the Tennessee. Bobbitt scored a career-high 27 points while Parker scored 28 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Parker missed six of her 14 free throws; but, she's definitely gotten stronger in her upper body. Her skills on offense have improved; and, she played defense with a lot of intensity, too. No other Tennessee player scored in double figures. Tennessee committed 19 turnovers in the game.
Courtney Paris scored 19 points and pulled down 16 boards. She was called for three fouls in the first half; but, she didn't pick up another foul. Freshman guard Danielle Robinson added 14 points; four assists; and four steals. Robinson is legit. Or as Courtney told the media after the game, "She's good." Four other players scored 7 points; but, no other OU player scored in double digits. The Sooners turned the ball over 22 times. OU missed 12 of 25 free throws, too.
The game wasn't decided until the final seconds; so, all in all, the Tennessee - OU match up (which Tennessee won 70 to 67) was very entertaining -- especially considering this was just the first full week of the college basketball season. Hopefully, the game does a good job "generating some excitement" for the 2008 Final Four. Both teams hope to return to Tampa in April. I do, too.
posted by Kris Gardner @ 9:15 AM
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