Final four stand out
TAMPA, Fla. – It doesn’t get any better than this.
A Final Four in which each team has at least 30 wins, a first-team All-American and a Hall of Fame head coach.
Better yet, three of the teams – Tennessee (seven), Connecticut (five) and Stanford (two) – have combined for 14 national championships and the fourth – Louisiana State – is making its fifth straight appearance under a first-year coach who won four WNBA titles.
As LSU coach Van Chancellor said, “I think this is the greatest Final Four we’ve ever had.”
There has probably never been a Final Four with quite this star power.
Tennessee has two-time AP Player of the Year Candace Parker, not to be confused with Stanford’s Candice Wiggins, who won the Wade Trophy. For LSU it’s 6-foot-6 Syliva Fowles and UConn has fabulous freshman Maya Moore.
“If you’re not coaching one of the best players in the country, it’s hard to get to the Final Four,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “It’s not a coincidence that the last three years we’ve not been able to get to the Final Four. You can’t just have one All-American and say you’re going to the Final Four, but it’s pretty hard to get there without one.”
Finally, when the games tip off tonight, both will be contrasting rematches.
First it’s Stanford (34-3) against Connecticut (36-1) at 4 p.m. PDT on ESPN2, followed by Southeastern Conference rivals LSU (31-5) and defending champion Tennessee (34-2).
“Everyone to me has an equal shot at this thing,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I don’t think anybody is coming in heads and shoulders above everyone else.”
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Stanford vs. Connecticut 4 p.m., ESPN
A different look
Stanford and UConn met in a neutral-site tournament at Thanksgiving. The Huskies dominated early en route to a 66-54 win.
Stanford had Wiggins and the four unknown underclassmen. Moore was coming off the bench for UConn.
Both teams have changed dramatically since then, in no small part because both teams lost two key contributors to ACL injuries.
“I didn’t even recognize the team I was coaching,” VanDerveer said after reviewing the game film. “We’re doing different things on offense. I think our defense has really improved.
“UConn started out the game really fast. We were not ready for them in November. But I will tell you (that) game helped us as much or more than any other game. We saw the pace that we wanted to play at.”
The Cardinal adapted to life without Michelle Harrison and Melanie Murphy, who played a combined five games, and in December beat top-ranked Tennessee in overtime.
“That really helped our team in terms of our confidence and just believing that we’re are a Final Four team,” VanDerveer said.
The emergence of Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Kayla Pedersen, a 6-4 forward, helped give 6-4 sophomore Jayne Appel operating room. Sophomore guards JJ Hones and Rosalyn Gold-Owunde have steadily improved after ACL injuries last year.
Auriemma sees a difference.
“I think they’re much more balanced, a much better team,” he said. “You can attribute that to they’ve all gotten better individually. I’m not surprised.”
It’s a testament to the Huskies that they kept rolling as starting guards Kalana Greene went down in December and Mel Thomas followed a month later.
“The team we had back in November doesn’t even resemble the team we have now,” Auriemma said. “It started to show itself (Monday against Rutgers) how much we missed those two kids, because all three of our perimeter players had to play 40 minutes. But every one of our players that’s playing now has gotten better.”
Tina Charles, 6-4, and Brittany Hunter, 6-3, are a strong inside presence with big, solid backups. Renee Montgomery is an outstanding point guard, but everyone wants to talk about Moore, a 6-1 guard-forward who was averaging in double figures when she was pressed into starting duty. She finished with only two games when she didn’t score in double figures, averaging 17.8.
“Maya Moore is going to be a four-time All-American,” VanDerveer said. “She’s a phenomenal player. But she has a great cast.”
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LSU vs. Tennessee 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Familiar foes
LSU shocked Tennessee in Knoxville during the regular season, closing a first-half deficit of almost 20 to three by intermission and then rolling to a 78-62 win. In the second meeting, the SEC championship game, the Lady Vols won 61-55.
“It’s just starting all over when each one of you have won one,” Chancellor said. “I think it’s like you actually have never played. Our team knows them and they know us. There will be no surprises.”
All eyes are on Parker and Fowles, especially Parker, who suffered a dislocated shoulder on Tuesday but has been declared fit to play.
Fowles averages 17 points and 10 rebounds, with 36 points and 24 rebounds in the first two meetings. Parker, the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four last year, averages 21.6 points and 8.3 rebounds and in two games against LSU had 54 points and 16 rebounds.
Neither one can win it alone, not in a game with all senior starters (Parker is a junior in eligibility because of an injury).
“Both teams have veteran players, players that have been at a Final Four and understand what to expect,” Tennessee Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt said. “I think it’s going to make for a great matchup … it’s not like we have to do extensive scouting.”
Despite the All-Americans under the basket, the game could turn on a pair of diminutive guards – 5-2 Vol Shannon Bobbitt and 5-3 Tiger Erica White way out front.
“I think the matchup with Erica and Shannon is key,” Summitt said. “It may be as important as any matchup on the floor.”
The fact that LSU has been knocking on the door so long concerns Summitt, who went to seven Final Fours and played in four title games, dating to the pre-NCAA days, before breaking through.
“The fact that they haven’t been in that championship game is a bigger concern for us than anything,” she said. “They appear to be a team on a mission.”