  |
|||
|
Stricklen Comfortable at the Point
Dec. 15, 2009
BY DREW EDWARDS If Shekinna Stricklen seems a little more comfortable on the basketball court these days, it's because she is. Even though a 6-foot-2 point guard tends to stand out a bit. The Tennessee sophomore played three different positions last year and has even occasionally played some at forward this season before settling into the point guard role. So what if she happens to be taller than all five starters for Louisville, which comes to Knoxville for a 7 p.m. tipoff Wednesday night? "I can play all spots," Stricklen said. "Right now I feel like I'm set at the point guard. This year, I'm just confident about everywhere I play at now. My whole game is confident, and my confidence is at a higher level. Things are going good." They certainly are. Stricklen leads the Lady Vols with 16.1 points per game. Her 59 rebounds rank second on the team. But perhaps the biggest indicator that Stricklen is becoming more comfortable running Tennessee's offense is her 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. That wasn't the case last year, when she had 95 assists and 105 turnovers. Each one of those miscues brought with it a mental battle, too. "A point guard, you're making turnovers," said Stricklen, who has reached double figures in seven of UT's eight games this season. "You're the leader of the team. You can't get down. When I turned the ball over, I'd get frustrated in myself and let my teammates down." Stricklen said she started to turn the corner about this time last year when she scored 25 points and dished out four assists in an overtime victory over No. 3 Stanford. The Lady Vols hope for the same result against Stanford on Saturday in Palo Alto (TV: FSN, 2:30 p.m. ET), but they'll be taking a different Stricklen with them to California. Those moments of discomfort running the point are fewer and farther between. An offseason spent honing her ball-handling skills and her pull-up jumper have helped boost her confidence even more.
"I'm sure at first, she was kind of uncomfortable at the point position," said forward Glory Johnson. "Now she's starting to understand what they do and concentrate on the whole concept of the point guard and leading the team and being able to push and if the posts are telling you to slow down, slow down. I think she likes it a lot more this year than last year, because she understands it and learned the concepts." She's also proven to be a pretty big mismatch. Johnson, perhaps the Lady Vols' most athletic player, says she can empathize with opposing defenders. "It's really funny," Johnson said. "If I was a guard and I had to guard her, I'd kind of be thinking the same thing. You never really know what Shekinna's going to do. People have a hard time guarding her because there's so many things she can do. "What if she drives? What if she takes a shot from way far out past the 3-point line? Playing with her is great because she runs, and I like to run the floor. When she runs with me, it's great because we can get transition points all game." The Lady Vols, 8-0 heading into Wednesday's game, are definitely improving, too. "This team, we all committed this year," Stricklen said. "Starting out it's been great. We're playing together as a team. We're all in for the same goal, and that's making it fun. We're playing together. We're playing hard. And we're winning. It's been great." Follow the Lady Vols on Twitter @UTLadyVols, and read Drew Edwards' blog, The Inside Source. |
|
||
WBB Pat Summit Audio Selection Monday - 3/15
