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[rlee]

Shock could use player like Pressey right now

by: JIMMIE TRAMEL
Tulsa World

TULSA SHOCK coach Nolan Richardson, whose team is riding a 12-game losing streak, has not ruled out more personnel moves.

This personnel option is not available, but, for speculation's sake, it was pitched to him nonetheless:

Richardson is the only coach in hoops history to win a junior college national championship, an NIT title and an NCAA championship. He did it, of course, coaching men's teams.

If Richardson could add a female version of any of his former male players to the Shock roster, who would he pick? Which guy/gal could make the biggest impact on the Shock's fortunes?

Big O?

Big Nasty?

Lee Mayberry?

Todd Day?

All were great college players and first-round NBA draft picks. But Richardson's choice (and he didn't hesitate with an answer) is former University of Tulsa point forward Paul Pressey.

Because?

"He did everything," Richardson said.

"Pressey was the only guy who didn't have to score a point to beat you because he did what he had to do to beat you.

"Pressey could go one game and have five points and the next game, if you needed 30, he would get you 30. Paul would be able to get you 10 to 15 rebounds every night. He could block shots. He's a great passer. Of all the players I ever had, the whole-package player was Paul. I don't think he was the best offensive player I had. But I think if you (listed) all the things that he could do, you just don't have those kind of players."

Suppose this female Pressey (let's call her Paula) existed. In what department would she make the Shock better?

"Winning," Richardson said.

"Like I said, Paul did so many things. If the defense broke down and he was in position, he could fix it. If an offensive pattern broke up, he would be able to fix it.

"There are so many things he can do and it would go unnoticed. He was just a good basketball player. And not only that, he was a leader. People followed him. He was very smooth. You couldn't tell whether he was 40-up or 40-down. He still had that same disposition and same demeanor about himself. He was something very special."

The Shock has been less than special in regard to wins and losses. Tulsa inherited a player-depleted franchise from Detroit and the Shock has sort of become to the WNBA what Baylor football is to the Big 12 — some good players, but not near as many as the league's best teams.

Unfortunately, no one wants to donate star players to the Shock, like the Memphis Grizzlies donated Pau Gasol to the Lakers in 2008. So Richardson keeps going back to the WNBA thrift store, making trades and waiving players to pick up anyone who can make a made-from-scratch team a little more appetizing.

The next pick-up should be someone physically incapable of running out of gas. Check out quotes from past games and players refer to fatigue or failure to play a full 40 minutes.

And this is because gals aren't capable of playing Richardson's trademark "40 minutes of hell," right?

Wrong.

If you assume that, you haven't been paying attention. The Shock rarely presses and Richardson said his college teams didn't press as much as some people choose to remember.

"We used to play zone," he said. "We used to trap. We did a lot of things. They just called it 40 minutes of hell, which means it was hell on the opponent, not because of running and doing that. It was hell because we played good defense and got the ball up the floor and then we pushed it on you."

Richardson said the Shock would be fatigued even if the pace was slow. He knows this because he said the Shock played slow in its most recent game and still was outscored 51-30 after halftime.

The Shock tried to push the ball. "But what they don't do in the later part of the game is they don't play defense well enough," he said. "And they turn the ball over too many times to give the defense a chance to work."

Richardson said it's "very difficult" for someone who has won as many games as he has to be patient. "But the winning inside of me overrides the part that says that you are going to quit," he said. "I will ride it out before I would quit anything."

The bottom line, according to Richardson, is the Shock has to add more talent.

Paging Paula Pressey, wherever — and whoever — you are.
_________________
“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”
Albert Einstein

[HistoryofWomensBasketball]

If this was the 30s with the Shock, Richardson would have all he wanted and would probably be playing as well as the Storm.

For it was back then that the Tulsa Stenos became the first National AAU champs to win it 3 times in a row with the like of Hazel Walker and Peggy Lawson.

I hope Tulsa has the funding and commitment to keep it going for 3-4 years. If they pull the #1 pick and get Maya, that will be a great help, but it will probably take a few years of good picks and then chemistry to get them moving up the ladder.

However the ladder in the west has a lot of steps near the ground with most teams well under .500
_________________
John Molina

Preservationist of History of Womens Basketball
www.womensbasketballmuseum.com
www.allamericanredheads.com

Co-Author of upcoming book on the All American Red Heads

2007 inductee CT Womens Basketball HOF