http://www.sacbee.com/100/story/360953.html
Ailene Voisin: Advice for 'Yo': Come back in '08
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 12:12 am PDT Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
Print | E-Mail | Comments (1)| Digg it | del.icio.us
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]If this were a basketball game, Yolanda Griffith already would have been called for a three-second violation. She is still hanging around Sacramento, visiting with team officials, preparing for thumb surgery, mulling her options. She can't decide whether to give up and go home -- or wherever great players retreat upon retirement -- or return to an ailing Monarchs club that failed to reach the WNBA Finals for the first time in three years.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]So, OK, here comes the nudge.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]One more time. One more year. One more season of "Yo," whose passion and productivity, whose insatiable appetite for perfection has long defined one of the league's most enduring and successful franchises. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Call it a farewell tour with Monarchs fans and anyone else who appreciates athletic grace and defensive greatness, afforded one long, lasting, final look at "Yo." And what will they see? How much could a 38-year-old center with creaky knees, a surgically repaired thumb and a 6-foot-3, 180-pound body tattooed with bruises possibly contribute?[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]This is different. This is Griffith. In limited minutes, even a bandaged, banged-up "Yo" is more effective than many of the WNBA's frontcourt players. And don't believe for a minute that Monarchs general manager John Whisenant didn't drop to one knee ... and absolutely beg her to stay ... when the two met Tuesday for her exit interview.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"I told 'Yo' to take her time and think it through," Whisenant said. "I didn't give her a deadline. I just encouraged her, told her that she could still be productive in the WNBA. "[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Griffith, who is declining to address the matter publicly, reportedly is despondent about the Monarchs' second-half slide and their early exit from the postseason. The 2007 season, in fact, which was projected as an opportunity to avenge their collapse in the 2006 Finals, was trying and disruptive in many respects.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Whisenant, who sculpted the team and its muscular defense in his image, returned to the front office full time and hired the young, unproven Jenny Boucek as his successor as coach. DeMya Walker tore a knee tendon in the home opener. Rebekkah Brunson struggled with a stress fracture all year. Ticha Penicheiro was hobbled late in the season. And though the preseason goal was to maintain the defensive consistency while more efficiently exploiting the scoring abilities of Kara Lawson and Nicole Powell, the Monarchs too often sputtered, only sporadically displaying the cohesiveness of past seasons.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]During Sacramento's 2005 title run, Connecticut coach Mike Thibault liked to say that playing the Monarchs was like going to the dentist. They pressure, rebound and rotate in unison, then knock out your teeth without the benefit of Novocain, with "Yo" taking fiendish delight in the bloody process.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Although Griffith's defense, rebounding and scoring have diminished, particularly when she plays extended minutes, losing "Yo" in essence would mean giving up the fight and entering a rebuilding mode. Is anyone around here really ready for that? Though the Monarchs certainly need to improve their overall athleticism, particularly in the frontcourt in light of Griffith's age and Walker's questionable recovery, this is a roster too worthy to scrap. Clean it up, for sure, but no need for an overhaul.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Indeed, with a couple of slick maneuvers, a prudent selection in the WNBA draft and a renewed collective commitment -- the players this season often appeared distracted or confused -- the Monarchs could become viable contenders again in 2008, provided "Yo" returns, ice packs and occasional limps nothwithstanding.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"She contributes a lot that doesn't show up on the stat sheet," Boucek said. "She's a great player, a great person, a great teammate, a great leader. There are a lot of intangibles, as well.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"I trust she'll know in her heart what to do, and I'll support her all the way."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]If she needs yet another nudge?[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Here it is: Take a breather, then get back in uniform. Don't frame the jersey while it's wet. Schedule that farewell tour and deliver your goodbyes in Houston, New York, Los Angeles and, most of all, right here in Sacramento. Give those who care about the WNBA and the Monarchs -- and women's athletics in general -- one last chance to say thanks.[/FONT]
Yolanda Griffith, left, "contributes a lot that doesn't show up on the stat sheet," Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek, right, says. Sacramento Bee/Carl Costas
Ailene Voisin: Advice for 'Yo': Come back in '08
By Ailene Voisin - Bee Columnist
Last Updated 12:12 am PDT Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
Print | E-Mail | Comments (1)| Digg it | del.icio.us
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]If this were a basketball game, Yolanda Griffith already would have been called for a three-second violation. She is still hanging around Sacramento, visiting with team officials, preparing for thumb surgery, mulling her options. She can't decide whether to give up and go home -- or wherever great players retreat upon retirement -- or return to an ailing Monarchs club that failed to reach the WNBA Finals for the first time in three years.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]So, OK, here comes the nudge.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]One more time. One more year. One more season of "Yo," whose passion and productivity, whose insatiable appetite for perfection has long defined one of the league's most enduring and successful franchises. [/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Call it a farewell tour with Monarchs fans and anyone else who appreciates athletic grace and defensive greatness, afforded one long, lasting, final look at "Yo." And what will they see? How much could a 38-year-old center with creaky knees, a surgically repaired thumb and a 6-foot-3, 180-pound body tattooed with bruises possibly contribute?[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]This is different. This is Griffith. In limited minutes, even a bandaged, banged-up "Yo" is more effective than many of the WNBA's frontcourt players. And don't believe for a minute that Monarchs general manager John Whisenant didn't drop to one knee ... and absolutely beg her to stay ... when the two met Tuesday for her exit interview.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"I told 'Yo' to take her time and think it through," Whisenant said. "I didn't give her a deadline. I just encouraged her, told her that she could still be productive in the WNBA. "[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Griffith, who is declining to address the matter publicly, reportedly is despondent about the Monarchs' second-half slide and their early exit from the postseason. The 2007 season, in fact, which was projected as an opportunity to avenge their collapse in the 2006 Finals, was trying and disruptive in many respects.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Whisenant, who sculpted the team and its muscular defense in his image, returned to the front office full time and hired the young, unproven Jenny Boucek as his successor as coach. DeMya Walker tore a knee tendon in the home opener. Rebekkah Brunson struggled with a stress fracture all year. Ticha Penicheiro was hobbled late in the season. And though the preseason goal was to maintain the defensive consistency while more efficiently exploiting the scoring abilities of Kara Lawson and Nicole Powell, the Monarchs too often sputtered, only sporadically displaying the cohesiveness of past seasons.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]During Sacramento's 2005 title run, Connecticut coach Mike Thibault liked to say that playing the Monarchs was like going to the dentist. They pressure, rebound and rotate in unison, then knock out your teeth without the benefit of Novocain, with "Yo" taking fiendish delight in the bloody process.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Although Griffith's defense, rebounding and scoring have diminished, particularly when she plays extended minutes, losing "Yo" in essence would mean giving up the fight and entering a rebuilding mode. Is anyone around here really ready for that? Though the Monarchs certainly need to improve their overall athleticism, particularly in the frontcourt in light of Griffith's age and Walker's questionable recovery, this is a roster too worthy to scrap. Clean it up, for sure, but no need for an overhaul.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Indeed, with a couple of slick maneuvers, a prudent selection in the WNBA draft and a renewed collective commitment -- the players this season often appeared distracted or confused -- the Monarchs could become viable contenders again in 2008, provided "Yo" returns, ice packs and occasional limps nothwithstanding.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"She contributes a lot that doesn't show up on the stat sheet," Boucek said. "She's a great player, a great person, a great teammate, a great leader. There are a lot of intangibles, as well.[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"I trust she'll know in her heart what to do, and I'll support her all the way."[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]If she needs yet another nudge?[/FONT]
[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Here it is: Take a breather, then get back in uniform. Don't frame the jersey while it's wet. Schedule that farewell tour and deliver your goodbyes in Houston, New York, Los Angeles and, most of all, right here in Sacramento. Give those who care about the WNBA and the Monarchs -- and women's athletics in general -- one last chance to say thanks.[/FONT]
Yolanda Griffith, left, "contributes a lot that doesn't show up on the stat sheet," Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek, right, says. Sacramento Bee/Carl Costas
