Like
many a parent this Saturday, University of New Mexico women's
basketball coach Don Flanagan will be shepherding his young'uns on a
Halloween foray.
Unlike
many trick-or-treaters though, Flanagan's brood of Lobos will not be
donning costumes and making the neighborhood rounds via shanks' mare.
Rather, they will be sporting their red-and-white uniforms and be
boarding a jet plane Halloween morning for some out-of-state thrills.
And
when they touch back down in Albuquerque Halloween night, they won't be
bearing bags of goodies but rather bags of ice: bags of ice strapped to
their various body parts -- for while they won't have the tummy aches
common to most Halloweeners, they'll be hurting just about every place
else.
They'll
be knocking on just one door in Tempe, Arizona - that of the Wells
Fargo Arena. And they won't be fooled when that pretty blond lady
answers the door - unlike popular myth, not all powerful witches are
old and ugly. Despite her charming smile and manner, this witch keeps
as nasty a coven of Sun Devils as you'll ever hope not to meet.
"They
might be as good, or better, than anybody we are going to play on our
schedule," Flanagan admits of Charli Turner Thorne's Arizona State
University squad.
They'll
be knocking on just one door in Tempe, Arizona - that of the Wells
Fargo Arena. And they won't be fooled when that pretty blond lady
answers the door - unlike popular myth, not all powerful witches are
old and ugly. Despite her charming smile and manner, this witch keeps
as nasty a coven of Sun Devils as you'll ever hope not to meet.
"They
might be as good, or better, than anybody we are going to play on our
schedule," Flanagan admits of Charli Turner Thorne's Arizona State
University squad.
One
could back that statement by pointing out that the Devils made it to
the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season -- knocked out only
by the all-conquering UConn Huskies.
Then
again, there's a closer to home example: a common foe this past season,
Texas A & M. The Aggies thumped the Lobos, 83-51. On the other
hand, when the Aggies ran into the Devils, it was they who were
thumped, 84-69.
That's
a big "Ouch!" for Lobo fans.
In addition to taking her
Sun Devils to the Elite Eight in March, Thorne also led the USA women
to the Gold in victory over Russia in the World University Games in
July. Flanagan has been up against Thorne since her days at Northern
Arizona. Lately, the competition has been more off court in the
scramble for recruits - with Flanagan coming out on the short end as of
late. "….those palm trees down there in Arizona," Flanagan half-jokes.
Back to Saturday
"This will be a good game
for our kids," Flanagan says. "And it will give me a better idea of
where we stand - I feel right now we are doing pretty well. We'll see
after Saturday if that's true or not. We have some areas to work on…
"I also
want to see if I can get my freshmen to contribute…to see if they can
contribute in a game-like situation."
Beyond just its high
level of play, ASU also offers a broad spectrum of tactical challenges
that is not ordinarily found in an exhibition-season opponent, Flanagan
points out.
"We might play each other
eight minutes of zone - a lot of times when we play an exhibition game
we wouldn't get that experience…we wouldn't get someone normally who
would play zone.
"She presses - normally
we would not press this early. And normally we wouldn't be working on
it this early: so this week I have to go to some things I don't
normally do this early in the season just because I don't want them to
be caught completely off guard with certain things.
"We're not doing a lot of
press-breaking right now - we're working on our half-court stuff -- so
we'll have to go for that just to be ready for Saturday. I'm going to
have to throw in a zone this week so that they can play against a zone,
too. We'll also work on late-game situations."
In addition to whatever
devilment ASU comes up with, the Lobos will be taking along a goblin of
their own: no surprise, the nasty is hanging out in the paint.
Neither of UNM's center
candidates, Valerie Kast [6-6 senior] nor Emily Stark [6-5 freshman]
are what Flanagan defines as "in condition."
"Val's not in condition
to play 40 minutes. If you can play 40 minutes then you are in
condition. If you can play 20 minutes - half a game - I don't consider
that 'in condition.' I don't think Val could play a whole game with the
kind of effort I expect. There's no question Val is much improved in
her conditioning, but…"
There are a "couple of
young players" including Stark who also are not a Division I
conditioning levels, Flanagan says. "I think we'll have some reality
checks on the inside. Inside I think they will be stronger than we
are." Beyond the inside conditioning question, there is the one of
experience. Stark is a freshman and has none, and, although Kast is a
senior, she has played few sessions of serious minutes.
Outside is another
proposition.
"I think our guards will
hang in there with their guards. I think that will be the good
competitive part," Flanagan says.
So what will the final
outcome be on Saturday? Will it be "Devil's Night," or "The Howling?"
Unfortunately, we'll never know the answer, as that is how such
scrimmages are played these days: in total Hitchcockesque suspense
and secrecy. Or, as Don Flanagan might say, "I could tell you the
score, but then I would have to kill you."