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Shooting star on the rise
By Larry S. Hazelrigg, Springfield News-Leader, 7/02/01 The list of Jackie Stiles doubters should be getting mighty slim by now. The 5-foot-8 guard has left stardom at Southwest Missouri State for stardom with the Portland Fire of the Women’s National Basketball Association. Never mind that critics said she was too small, or had come from a mid-major conference (the Missouri Valley) or any number of other negatives. Those who know the game best thought differently. Stiles was projected to be among the top picks in the WNBA draft and wound up being the fourth name called. “She has a chance to be one of the very top players in this league for a lot of years,” Fire coach-general manager Linda Hargrove said Friday. And she’s certainly not alone in that thinking. “I was talking to Van Chancellor (coach of the four-time WNBA champion Houston Comets) the other day and he was telling me that (Stiles) could be in the Cynthia Cooper or Sheryl Swoopes category before very long at all,” Hargrove said. Cooper, the first-year coach of the Phoenix Mercury, was the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1997 and 1998 and a four-time first team all-WNBA selection for the Comets. Swoopes, also with the Comets, was the 2000 MVP and a three-time first-team all-star. She’s sitting out this season after an injury. “We knew we were lucky when (Stiles) dropped to four,” Hargrove said. “If we’d had the first pick, we would have taken her first. She was the player we wanted. We are thrilled and I think she will have a long, very lucrative career in the WNBA and hopefully it will all be in Portland.” While it’s not completely fair to compare the top draftees, because circumstances vary with their respective teams, it’s easy to say that Stiles stands out. After her fifth straight double-digit scoring game Friday at Miami, she’s averaging 15.8 points, which ties teammate Sophia Witherspoon for seventh place in the league and tops among WNBA rookies. She’s eighth in total points (190) and is tied for second league-wide in 3-point shooting at 50 percent (21-for-42). She’s scored in double figures in 10 of 12 games, including a career-high 26 at Indiana on Wednesday. Stiles and Witherspoon have led Portland, which was 10-22 last season, to an 8-4 record, in third place and 1Ï games off the pace in the Western Conference. Stiles was part of a strong crop of collegians eligible for the draft. “You look at the first round, the top couple of rounds, and people really had a lot of talent,” said Renee Brown, WNBA vice president for player personnel. “(For instance), Semeka Randall was taken (in the second round), but she’s in the top 30 in scoring (27th as of Saturday). “You have to understand that this group was coming in and joining teams that have the best players in the world. You look at them, their future, and the upside is so bright. They are definitely going to be part of the WNBA future, whether it’s Jackie, Tamika Catchings, Lauren Jackson ... and Kristin Veal (Phoenix Mercury) is fourth in assists.” Catchings, drafted No. 3 by the Indiana Fever, is not expected back from injury until possibly late July. Seattle has benefited from the league’s No. 1 pick, Jackson, and the 17th choice in the second round of the draft, Randall. Jackson is averaging 32.8 minutes (virtually the same as Stiles), has made 12 starts, is averaging 15.6 points and six rebounds. Randall has started all 13 Storm games, is averaging 19.2 minutes, 11.7 points and 3.5 rebounds. “The expectations of Lauren were very high for her to turn that franchise around,” NBC television analyst Ann Meyers-Drysdale, one of the greatest players in women’s basketball history, said. “I am glad that Jackie didn’t have that, going into Portland. It was never about that. This (Fire) franchise turned around because of chemistry, management, coaches and players. “I personally think Jackie couldn’t have gone with a better team. That’s the key word — team ... I think people accept their roles and Linda does not put a lot of pressure on Jackie. It’s very different for a rookie to come into this league and make an impact, it really is.” As for Stiles’ lack of height, Meyers said, “I’ve never been a player of size, I’m a player of heart. I look at a player’s heart and Jackie Stiles has one of the biggest out there.” Brown said when considering some of the top rookies, including Charlotte’s Kelly Miller (the No. 2 pick overall and averaging 3.0 ppg, in 11 minutes), Jackson, Miami’s Ruth Riley (No. 5, averaging 6.4 points, 2.9 rebounds in 21.5 minutes) and Detroit’s Deanna Nolan (No. 6, 8.4 ppg, 20.9 minutes), Stiles jumps out at her. “I think she’s one of the top three who came into the WNBA and she had a target on her back,” Brown said, referring to Stiles’ record-setting career at SMS, where she set an all-division NCAA mark with 3,393 points. “Everyone wanted to shut her down,” Brown said. “The surprise is that it (Stiles’ stardom) happened so fast. You knew she could do it, but I thought it might take a little more of the season.” Stiles said although facing all kinds of “junk defenses” in college helped her prepare for the pros, she still struggled in the first few games before her confidence started to grow. She said she’s working on remaining in the flow of the game even if she doesn’t have the ball and on staying focused and confident: “If you lose confidence for one day, they will take advantage of that,” she said. Her 3-point shooting is coming around, which Hargrove said was important. “She’s gotten a lot more confident in shooting her 3. That opens things up so much more for her. Early on, she was pretty much taking people off the dribble. That was the comfort zone ... now she understands to open things, to look for the 3 more.” Said Stiles, “I’ve started working on it more and even out-of-range 3s, and it’s opening up other parts of my game, too.” Stiles’ work ethic is legendary, but Hargrove said what also makes her special is her ability to create shots, for herself and her teammates. “Usually, something good is going to happen when she has the ball in her hands. She will draw attention away from somebody else, and she does a nice job of finding that player,” Hargrove said. “The thing that sets her apart is the fact that she elevates so high on her shots and gets great balance before she releases. Very seldom does she put up an unbalanced shot.” Ed Guzman of The (Portland) Oregonian, who covers Fire games, said Stiles showed flashes of her potential early in the season. “I think it was the Sacramento game, June 16 at Sacramento, when we really saw her come of age,” Guzman said. “It was on the road, the crowd was pretty rambunctious, it was a close game and she ended up carrying them. She scored 10 straight points, five at the end of regulation, and five to start the OT.” Stiles finished that game, an 81-74 victory, with a game-high 21 points. “It was her first 20-point game,” Guzman said. “Statistically and character-wise, it was a real coming of age.” It hasn’t taken Stiles long to become a fan favorite in Portland. “They love her,” Guzman said. “She’s been pretty accessible. She’s made a lot of appearances, but she’s pretty shy ... the fans are really taken with her, and they had heard a lot about her. There were a lot of expectations.” He said Hargrove is trying to keep the pressure off Stiles, telling the media after her good games that “she’s a rookie and will be up and down this year.” In other words, don’t expect that kind of performance every time out. He said a key for Stiles is to shoot consistently, and not to get fatigued, which he saw signs of early in the season. But Hargrove has limited Stiles’ extra work: “She’s corrected that pretty well.” Stiles said she tries to lead more by example than words, much like she led at SMS. “But in certain games, certain situations, I get more vocal and even my teammates comment about it,” she said. “I’m usually not like that. When it comes to the wire, that’s when I start to get vocal.” She’s not trying to compete statistically with the league’s other rookies. “You know me. I try to only focus on team things, team success,” she said, “to do what it takes to help the team win. “But at the same time, I watch what other rookies are doing. I’ve grown up competing with and against them on USA teams. I want to see how they are doing and kind of gauge myself. ‘Am I pulling my weight in this league?’ “I feel so fortunate to be drafted here. It’s a perfect fit,” she said. “So far, it’s been a great situation. I struggled a lot early, not mechanically, just confidence. Now that I’ve found my groove, I’m doing a lot better. “I think I am gaining confidence with every game, playing a lot more like myself, being offensive-minded, being aggressive. I’m finding my fit on this team and this league. But I want to get much better and know I can be much better. “That’s what helps me. I know I can be much better.” TO THE TOP |