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Scott Puryear
By Scott Puryear, Springfield News-Leader, 6/02/01 Message to Jackie: Just shoot it Jackie Stiles didn’t disappoint in her WNBA debut Thursday night, with her team-high, 17-point effort in the Portland Fire’s 82-65 loss to Minnesota. First impressions? It looks like the former SMS star is in good hands in Portland. Large crowds of 10,000-plus. Fan-made signs extolling her virtues. A P.A. announcer, on way too much caffeine, screaming her name. High-fives from a Dalmatian mascot, the only such costume in the world capable of making Homer the Mountain Duck look tough by comparison. But Jackie, although many miles away, still could use our help. So I have just one tip for her: Learn to be selfish, Jackie. If you get it, shoot it. Don’t dish it off. Otherwise, you won’t see the ball again. And when that happens, it leads to a long season for the Fire. Not as long as their 10-22 effort a year ago, but not much better. Then again ... are the Fire anything more to us than an afterthought? Admit it. First and foremost, we’ll check the boxscores to see how many Stiles scored. I know this goes against Jackie’s nature. In fact, it surprises me she hasn’t changed the spelling to Jackee, so there’d be no “I’’ in it whatsoever. She’s the only player who could score 56 points in a game, then go on for 30 minutes in a press conference about how great her teammates were. An admirable quality for a down-home Kansas girl. But Jackie, this is the pros. Egos aren’t optional, but a must for stardom. Do you think Allen Iverson was the NBA’s MVP for his passing ability? Or that he lost sleep over that 5-for-27 shooting effort Wednesday in the NBA playoffs? Stiles got off only 13 shots, just five in a second half in which she scored on just a pair of free throws. This after a first half that brought back memories of the NCAA scoring leader we all know. The twisting jumper over two Lynx defenders. The fast breaks where she throws the ball 10 feet ahead of her, goes after it and leaves the pack behind. The baseline drives in tall traffic. Just not enough of it. Stiles has to realize it’s a new world now. These girls play for a paycheck. They’ve all been stars in college, accustomed to getting their points, not setting screens for some 5-foot-8 rookie hotshot. They know the path to fame, and endorsements, is through the points. And if she’ll shoot it, Stiles will get there. She could lead the WNBA in scoring as a rookie, which would make it hard to keep her off the All-WNBA squad and out of the public eye. It’s very doable. She had 17 points in the opener, and that was with an awful half and not nearly enough attempts. The WNBA’s scoring leader every year has come from the four-time champion Houston Comets. Since-retired Cynthia Cooper averaged 22.1, 22.7 and 22.2 points from 1997-99, while Sheryl Swoopes led the league last year with 20.7 points per game. How often did they shoot? Cooper averaged 14.5, 15.2 and 14.8 field goal attempts in her three seasons atop the charts, Swoopes 15.2 shots per game last summer. And this on a team loaded with talent, where spreading the ball around was required. That’s not the case with the Fire. Stiles ought to feel left out if she doesn’t fire it up at least 15 to 20 times per game. Too much traffic? Nobody is better at creating her own shot. And teams must know that, because Stiles faced a stream of double-teams by the Lynx. “I was shocked,’’ Stiles said Friday. “Here I am in my first pro game, just a rookie ... and I come off the wing and there’s the double (team). It felt like college for an instant. “I can definitely feel I’m kind of a target out there. ... I took some pretty rough hits.’’ It’s the treatment Stiles can expect all summer. Teams will knock her around, try to get inside her head and take her out of her game. Will it work? I doubt it. SMS foes tried for four years. And while these WNBA players are bigger, stronger and faster than she saw in college, the workaholic Stiles will no doubt get bigger, stronger and faster to keep pace. So Jackie, since you’re in Nike country, we’ll modify one of its slogans for you. Your WNBA motto... Just shoot it. After all, you now trail Cooper by only 2,520 points to become the WNBA’s all-time scoring leader. Let the shots fly and the countdown begin. TO THE TOP |