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Get out of the way or you could be the next victim! Brittney Griner is posterizing players left and right this year with fierce, over the top, in your face dunks!! The 6’8” 200 pound senior from Nimtz High School in Houston Texas threwn down a ridiculous 52 dunks during the 2008-09 regular season, and she’s just getting warmed up! Brittney has a two handed dunk, a one handed dunk, a drop step, a reverse, a 360, she goes off the bank or she can glide in from the free thrown line Dr. Jay style! Brittney loves to dunk so much, she spends hours in the gym practicing, and often comes home with welts, bruises and cuts on her wrists and forearms from getting hung on the rim. When she’s not practicing she’s watching NBA highlights and you-tube clips figuring out new dunks to try. Her favorite dunkers are Dwayne Wade and Lebron James. “It is unbelievable!” says Marcus Jackson, Brittney’s AAU coach. “It isn’t just fast breaks anymore, it is dunking on people, it is drop stepping and just dunking over you, it is power dunking!” Watching Brittney dunk is witnessing the evolution of women’s basketball. A handful of players in the women’s game have dunked including: Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie, Michelle Snow and Sylvia Crawley. But there has never been a player with the uninhibited dunking ability of Brittney Griner! The unanimous WBCA high school All-American is poised to legitimately take the women’s game above the rim this fall as she enters college at Baylor University. “I do think that she will be the first player to play above the rim and do it on a consistent basis”, says Baylor Head coach Kim Mulkey. “Not just with her dunking ability, but also with her blocking shots.” In the past players who were able to dunk were given the green light to dunk only on wide-open fast breaks or when their team was up. But that’s not the case for Griner, Coach Mulkey says Brittney’s above the rim skills will naturally fit into the Bears offense. “I think some of the things we already do will allow the dunk to take place. I just know that you don’t coach her any different than you do the post players we have now. The thing that is different, is she is so much taller and above everyone else that the dunk will naturally be able to take place.” Dunking isn’t the only facet to Brittney’s game, the phenom is a legit triple double threat! Her senior year she averaged 27.4 points, 13.2 rebounds and 10 blocks per game. She even had a rare quad double this season against College Park High School, going off for 36 points, 15 rebounds, 14 blocks and 10 assists. Griner’s wingspan of 86 inches and her vertical reach of 11 feet 6 inches make her a defensive monster in the paint. Earlier this year she set the national high school shot block record with 25 in a game against Hastings high school. “It is hard to get a shot off, this girl can go from the paint to the three point line and block a shot”, says Marcus Jackson. “I think this is where she is really going to change the game more is on the defensive end because she takes so many points away!” “I love to shot block, that’s one of my favorite things to do”, says Brittney, “I jut float around in the paint waiting, I have long arms and I can jump.” Baylor already has a top 10 program in place. The influx of Brittney and 4 other top recruits (Mariah Chandler, Jordan Madden, Shanay Washington and Kemetria Hayden) is sure to make the Bears a final four contender. Evolution of Brittney’s Dunk Brittney threw down her first dunk as a freshman on a dare from the high school janitor. “He said I was too tall not to dunk”, recalls Brittney, “so he gave me a volley ball and told me to dunk it”. When she flushed it on the first try, everyone went crazy. A few weeks later Griner tried out for the Nimitz High School basketball team, this was her first experience playing organized basketball. “Her first year I would describe her as a sponge”, said Nimitz Head Coach Debbie Jackson, “just soaking up terminology and strategy and just working hard.” Griner was 6’1“ at the time and played 8 J.V. games before moving up to varsity. Her first season she was so busy getting down the basics of basketball she had little time to work on dunking. But when the season ended she vowed to coach Jackson she would be dunking by the next season. In the spring of 2006 Brittney began playing AAU basketball with the Houston Hot Shots under coach Marvin Harris. His assistant coach was Amanda Barksdale, a 6’3” forward who won a national championship with Notre Dame in 2001. She began working one on one with Brittney mproving her footwork, rebounding and shot blocking. By this time Brittney had grown to 6’3” and once again began testing her above the rim skills. She was determined to dunk, so much so, she bent the rim on the goal at her house and would often have miss-fires at AAU practice. “She attempted to dunk”, said Harris, “she would get about 1 out of 6 with a running start.” The attempts backfired. One day while practicing, Brittney got hung up in the rim and broke a bone in her hand. She was forced to sit out 6 weeks with her hand in a cast. By the middle of the summer she healed up and resumed her mission to dunk. Coach Harris recalls her first flush in an AAU game, “It was a break away, we lobbed her the ball, the average person would go up for a lay-up, she just slammed it.” “It was a little flush, just barely over the rim”, recalls Brittney. “I was like, now I’m going to improve on this because I didn’t like it just rolling over the rim.” Griner went back to school in the fall and timidly showed her new skills to several coaches who suggested she get her legs stronger by lifting weights. She took the advice and hit the circuit with the football team doing a rigorous regimen of squats and leg press starting at 200 pounds. The extra work paid off. By basketball season her leaping ability had greatly improved and her dunk was starting to look respectable. The sophomore began dunking in practice and pre-game warm-ups. About a month later in a Thanksgiving tournament, Brittney had her first dunk in a high school game on a wide open fast break. “After my first dunk, it was crazy”, says Brittney, “we just went crazy and everybody in the stands went crazy and we let the other team score because we were talking about the dunk”. “Everyone in the gym even our opponents were clapping and her team mates were jumping up and down,” recalls coach Jackson, “I actually called a time out because there was so much commotion.” News started to spread about the feat. After Christmas a Houston television station came to practice and shot footage of Griner doing a variety of dunks: a one handed, a two handed, a baseline side dunk, even a bounce off the backboard. In the footage her teammates are cheering wildly, meanwhile Brittney almost seems shy about her talents. Channel 2 posted the video on YouTube and it became an instant sensation. To date, it has received just under 3 million hits! The YouTube clip has become so notorious, even NBA star Shaquille O’Neil checked it out. When he came to town to play the Houston Rockets, he took time to meet Brittney before the game. His advice to her was to stay humble and keep her family close. As a sophomore Griner had about 10 dunks and averaged 23 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. “I knew she was going to be a very good basketball player her freshman year”, said coach Debbie Jackson, “and by the end of her sophomore year you knew she was going to be something special.” By the spring of 2007 Brittney was 6’6” and continued to work hard in the off-season playing AAU. During the summer she attended a camp at Baylor University in Waco Texas, about 3 hours from Houston. She was so impressed with coach Mulkey and her staff, she decided to verbally commit to Baylor. In her junior campaign, Griner was hungry for more competition, so she began practicing with the Nimitz boys basketball team who were more her size. The coaches helped her develop a drop step and a hook shot and got her used to a very physical style of play. “It’s real competitive with the boys. At first they didn’t want to go real hard”, says Brittney. “I told them don’t mind me being a girl, cause I love to compete, I love to go hard, so they pushed me around and put me on the floor a few times and I returned the favor right back to em’.” Nimitz boys head coach Randy Gilmer was astounded by her athletic ability. He recalls a day in practice when Brittney dunked 5 times in a row on his best post player. When the player tried to return the favor on Brittney, she blocked his shot. “I’ve been coaching basketball for 30 years and never have a said a girl could play on my team,” says Gilmer. “She could play for me, she would make us better, she would start on my team.” This year, her senior year, there was no doubt Brittney was a legitimate dunker. The gym at Nimitz high school has been extra packed and even the road games are packed. “Dunk it!”, people yell out from the stands. Everyone wants to get a glimpse of Griner’s highflying act. Brittney now stands at 6’8”, her muscles ripple when she walks down the court, she’s 200 pounds and has dunked over 50 times this season. No longer is she that shy skinny kid on YouTube, barely aware of her talents. Now she has confidence and swagger, she’s ready to tomahawk right over the top of you! “Its always exciting and it never gets old, whether she does it in practice or in a game”, says coach Jackson. “She actually straddled, mean jumped over an opponent in a game. This year she doesn’t dunk, she slams the ball with a fierceness” “I feel happy knowing I’m the only one in high school who can do this”, I says Brittney with a smirkish grin, “but then there are times when anger is behind it, because we might be down or behind and I’ll get mad and go up with full force and try to just tear the rim.” Among top athletes it is considered an honor to be part of Team Jordan. Athletes who represent the Jordan Brand are hand picked by Michael Jordan because they embody the characteristics that define Michael's career such as: dedication, confidence, grace under pressure and a winning mindset. Chris Paul, Terrell Owens, Derek Jeter and Ray Allen are a few of the names on the distinguished list. The latest name added to the roster is April Holmes, a US Track and field paralympian, and the first female to represent the Jordan Brand. "It's an honor to be part of Brand Jordan, regardless of me being a woman", say April. "Michael is such a great athlete and such a great ambassador for the sport of basketball, and such a huge icon. To know that he thought enough of all of us Team Jordan athletes to allow us to be part of the brand he created, is a pretty awesome experience." April Holmes’ addition to the brand is significant because her personal success is very inspiring. The story starts at Norfolk State where Holmes achieved All-American honors in the 400 and 4x400 relay. Her status as one of the fastest college sprinters in the nation was brought to halt in 2001 when she was involved in a train accident causing the loss of her left leg below the knee. Most people when faced with this type of injury are able to return to normal daily activities, but Holmes went beyond. While she was still in the hospital recovering, her surgeon told her about the Paralympic Games, and right away Holmes made it a personal goal. “He saved my life and he introduced me to a new life as an amputee”, says olmes of her surgeon Dr. Delong. "He said it was up to me to get up and over it and not let my accident stand in the way of my dreams and goals." Holmes grew up in Camden, New Jersey where she was a star athlete in both basketball and track and field. She says she the mental toughness and discipline she gained through sports helped her recovery process. "When you believe that you are a champion, and when you believe you can overcome anything, that was just another speed bump in life." Two months after her accident April was fitted with a state of the art prosthetic limb and began training immediately. Just one year later she won a silver medal in the 100 meter at the IPC World Championships, setting a new American record of 14.12 second. This accomplishment pushed her to train for the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens where she won bronze in the long jump. Her first Paralympic experience only pushed her to continue improving. April now owns world records (women’s T44 classification) in the 100 meter, 200 meter and 400 meter dashes, and in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing she won gold in the 100 meter. Her many accomplishments have earned her the title of “world’s fastest amputee.” Michael Jordan found April's story so inspiring, Jordan Brand used her as a model for the new Air Jordan 2009 shoe. The basketball shoe incorporates innovative technology called Articulated Propulsion Technology, or APT, a revolutionary heel system inspired by the carbon fiber prosthetic used by Holmes. The technology in the shoe allows explosive forward movement. The heel is also split, which ensures superior responsiveness by keeping at least one half of the heel in contact with the ground at all times. Off the track, Holmes runs the April Holmes Foundation, a non-profit organization tasked with assisting people with physical and developmental disabilities in everyday life. 3000 people a day become amuputees in the United States. Holmes' strength, stamina and Jordan-like resilience, have made her an inspiration to disabled and able-bodied people around the world. The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States will go down as an historic civil rights victory, as a bonus, the first African American in the Oval Office is also a basketball player! Just days after being elected, Obama proclaimed basketball as the official presidential sport and told ABC's Charlie Gibson his first order of business; "I will be having the presidential bowling alley taken out and I will be replacing it with a basketball court." Obama's basketball career dates back to 1977 where he first made the JV team for Panahou High School. The 6'2" small forward came off the bench in 1979 to help his team win a state championship. After high school Obama continued playing pick up games at Columbia University and then at various health clubs. A little scouting reveals the smooth lefty has a pretty solid mid-range jumper, can stroke a three and his signature move is a pump fake right and drive left. Even now, Obama's inner circle has basketball ties; brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is the head coach for Oregon State; personal aide, Reggie Love, played for Duke, and James Jones, Obama's National Security Advisor, is a Georgetown Hoya from the 1960's. Women's basketball also has it's place in Obama's basketball history. Lisa Leslie and her husband were on the White House mall for the inaug-uration and later attended one of the official inaugural balls. The first time Obama unveiled his basketball skills to the press corp was in Kokomo Indiana where he played in a three on three game with WNBA foward Alison Bales at post and Olympic Gold Medalist Tamika Katchings on referee duties. During a campaign stop at the University of Maryland, the women's basketball team caused a little disruption during Obama's speech, when as a group they got up to leave the event. Obama noticed the team departing, and asked the crowd to applaud them. "If I had brought my sneakers, I'd play with you," said Obama. The Maryland women got another shout out when point guard Kristi Toliver was named to Obama's "Dream Pick-up Team". The first time Mariah Chandler stepped into the gym at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, everyone stopped and stared. “The first time I saw her, I thought she was a college student”, said head basketball coach Jackie Ransom. Mariah was just 13 years old at the time and half an inch shy of six feet. She had shown up to play in a summer pick-up game, a day coach Ransom definitely remembers, “I couldn’t believe it, because of her size and her agility, she could run the floor, she could handle the ball, she could shoot. It was really amazing what she could do at such an early age.” That fall, Mariah’s mother, Alicia Chandler relocated her family from Orlando to Atlanta and enrolled Mariah and her sister in SACA. The private college prep school has a rich basketball heritage that produced NBA All-Star Dwight Howard and Javaris Crittenton of the Washington Wizards. Dwight Howard senior is still the athletic director at SACA, his family made it a point to make the Chandlers feel welcome. “Dwight junior is like my brother”, says Mariah, “Dwight Howard senior is like my step father, he understands I don’t have a father figure in my life and he wants to be there for me.” Mariah recalls the day Dwight junior got her out of class to play one on one, “Out of the blue he dunked on me, I was like, you can’t do that!” Dwight then took the time to work with Mariah and give her a few footwork pointers so she could learn to dunk. Within a matter of time she was throwing down a volleyball. Mariah had an immediate impact for the Warriors leading the JV squad to a perfect 27-0 record as an 8th grader. Her freshman year she moved up to varsity and was part of the first state championship for the girls program. Entering her junior year the 6’2” forward was averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds a game, more than enough to put her at the top of many college-recruiting lists. On September first, the day colleges can first contact an athlete, Mariah recalls her mailbox being so full it couldn’t close! There were letters from dozens of the colleges, including top programs like UConn, Rutgers, UNC, Maryland, Georgia, Texas, Baylor and Auburn. “The recruiting process was overwhelming”, recalls Alicia Chandler, Mariah’s mother. “I took it upon myself to do research on the NCAA rules.” In fact it’s fair to say Mariah and her mother made the recruiting process a research project, taking a whopping eleven un-official visits to colleges. At the end of the process there was one school that stood head and shoulders above the rest, and that’s where they took their one official visit. “When we got to Baylor it was just… Wow!” said Alicia, “I knew that after all those unofficial visits, this is where my child belonged.” Mariah’s official visit to Baylor lasted three days where she met with head coach Kim Mulkey, potential professors and even spent time with the Dean. The experience was so positive she verbally committed and is now part of the best recruiting class for 2009. Baylor signed top recruit Brittney Griner as well as Jordan Madden, Shanay Washington and Kimetria Hayden. “People are underestimating Baylor,” says Mariah, “they think I should have gone to U Conn. or Rutgers or Maryland. But there is something different at Baylor that the others didn’t have. I think I am in good hands with coach Kim. She understands what I want to do with my life, she wants to win, I want to win!” I’m very proud of my daughter,” says Alicia, “for her to be graduating national honor society, going to the Big 12, being the #9 recruit in the country, number one in her position, I just feel it is well deserved.” Just for a second, let’s imagine there was no Pat Summitt… What if the Lady Vols never became a dynasty? What if there wasn’t a record 8 national championships? What if there wasn’t a NCAA record 69 game home win streak? What if there was no Connecticut Tennessee rivalry? What if there weren’t 1000 wins? Where would women’s basketball be? In 1974 at 22 years old, Pat was hired as the Tennessee head coach. Women’s college basketball was in its fledgling stages, the NCAA didn’t even have a women’s tournament, that would come in 1982. Like most women’s basketball programs at the time, Pat was handed the reins with little resources, but she was determined to build the best program even when it was unpopular idea. In 1979 she coached U.S. women’s team in the Pan Am Games, the legendary Bobby Knight coached the men’s team. Summitt and Knight had lunch together nearly every day and Pat took the opportunity to discuss everything she could about the game with Bobby and his staff. “She just asked questions,” Knight told the Oklahoman News. “Whatever it was, she'd have questions. You knew back then that Pat Summitt was going to be good. She was interested, she was knowledgeable and most of all, she wanted to be a good coach.” The next year the Vols went 33-5 and reached the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national championship game where they lost to Old Dominion, the following year they returned and lost to Louisiana Tech. In 1982 Tennessee joined the newly formed NCAA tournament, five years later in 1987, the Vols claimed their first national championship with a 67-44 win over Louisiana Tech. Summit went on to achieve three national championships in 6 years. Summit was just scratching the surface, Tennessee continued their winning tradition becoming the first team to win back to back to back national championships from 1995-1997, thanks in part to a player by the name of Chamique Holdsclaw. Two more national championships would come in 2007 and 2008 for a record 8 national titles. Pat is second only to John Wooden who coached UCLA to 10 championships. When you think of Pat Summitt reaching 1000 wins, it is mind-boggling. A grand is equivalent to 33 undefeated seasons winning 30 games!! Coach Summit reached 1000 wins in 35 seasons! “It’s a tremendous milestone”, says Maryland Head Coach Brenda Freese. “Pat is an icon in the game. I think the most important thing that stands out with the 1000 is the consistency. To do it day in and day out consistently, to bring those kinds of championships, I think that is what so tremendous in this achievement.” Tennessee has reached the NCAA women’s tournament every year of it’s existence, and has 20 or more wins every year since 1977. Every Lady Vol since 1976 has played in at least one Final Four, and three of Summitt's classes have reached the Final Four all four of their years. During the last 30 years more than 7 million people have watched the Tennessee women play, the Vols hold the record for selling out the largest women’s basketball crowds at home, on the road, on neutral courts and at the final four. Pat Summitt hasn’t just created a dynasty at Tennessee; she has set the standard, the benchmark for all of women’s basketball. In the big picture, Pat Summitt has transcended basketball, she is a leader, a role model, an advocate, a teacher and has inspired all of us to be the best we can be on the court and in life. Tucked away in the mountains of West Virginia is one of Great Britain’s top young women’s basketball players. Chantelle Handy is a 6’3” junior guard for Marshall and has put up very productive numbers this year averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds a game. Handy grew up in Durham, England where she thrived on the basketball court playing for club and national teams in Great Britain. She was noticed at a tournament in Croatia by scouts who recruited her to come to the United States and play for Mount de Chantal Academy, a Catholic prep school in West Virginia with one of the top basketball programs in the state. Two years later she was earned a scholarship to Marshall. But the story doesn’t end there, after her first season at Marshall; Handy received an invitation to play for Great Britain’s Senior National Team as they prepare to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. It was an opportunity she was thrilled about. “It was just a great experience,” says Handy. “I feel like my game has stepped up so much this year thru my experience this summer playing with big time players; and knowing I can compete with players at that level was a big confidence booster.” For the past two summers Handy has represented her home country competing against teams from across Europe. It’s a very different style of play than Marshall; “It’s constant running and running”, says Chantelle. “It’s physical, the players are a lot bigger and a lot stronger, these are grown women.” Marshall head coach Royce Chadwick saw an immediate impact when she returned to the Herd; “Her all around game got better. She got a huge dose of confidence by playing against and with people everyday that she looked up to and idolized. Her confidence level went through the roof.” Chadwick describes Handy as an a team player who can play every position on the floor; “She’s the kind of player that team mates want to play with because she goes so hard every day, she brings tremendous leadership and work ethic to our team, she’s the heart and soul of what we are doing.” Handy’s basketball journey in the United States has been without her family, they still live in England. “It is my goal to go play in Europe”, say’s Handy who has no current plans to attempt a career in the WNBA. “For me, I’d rather play in Europe, I’ll be close to my family, they’ve missed out on a huge part of my life and to give that back to them and go play in Europe would be big for me and them.” Amid the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, about two blocks from Madison Square Garden, one of the top high school girls basketball programs in the country is quietly going about business. On a small undersized court built over 100 years ago, St Michael's is completing their daily shooting drill, 100 free-throws, 100 jump-shots and 100 three-pointers. The team is currently ranked 6th in the nation according to ESPN.com and six of their players are ranked in the top 100. Seniors Shennekia Smith & Janine Davis both signed D-1 scholarships. It's pretty amazing what the team has been able to accomplish considering they are a small Catholic school with no public funding. Head coach Apache Paschall says the team hasn't had new uniforms in at least 10 years, and when it comes to a travel budget... it ain't happening! Paschall scrimps and saves and has fundraisers so the team can play a tough out of conference schedule. But the program at St. Mikes is more than just basketball. The small college prep Catholic school boasts 99% of it's students are accepted to college. Paschall requires all his athletes to attend a one hour study hall before practice. A good percentage of the students are minorities from troubled homes and financially unable to pay the $6500 tuition. Between basketball and a better education, many doors of opportunity are being opened for these young ladies. The list of division one players from St. Michaels is impressive: Kia Vaughn-Rutgers, Anjale Barrett-Maryland, Alexa Roche-Georgtown, Tasha Harris-Syracuse, Tiffany Tomlinson-Penn State, and Elon Sidney-St. Johns. Without a doubt, the Atlantic Coast Conference has become the toughest league in women's college basketball. This year as many as 6 teams have been ranked in the top 25 and night after night the battles in the ACC are as fierce as March Madness. 2006 was a record year for the ACC; seven teams made it to the tournament, with Duke, Maryland & UNC reaching the final four, the first time three teams from the same conference have accomplished that feat! Maryland went on to win the National Championship joining UNC as the only teams in the conference to win a title. Duke has tried 4 times, UVA 3 and NC State once. The tough competition is producing some of the best players in the game and here at Inside Women's Basketball we have taken a look at the 2009 class in the ACC and shed some light on who we think will have a bright future in the WNBA. Hands down, Kristi Toliver of Maryland is the best point guard in the ACC and the country. We project she could go as early as the third pick in the draft to the Chicago Sky who need a true point guard. What we like most about Kristi is her ability to create space between between her and the defender to get an open shot. She is a proven clutch shooter; this year she hit a buzzer beater to defeat FSU, and is legendary for "The Shot" she took over 6'7" Alison Bales to defeat Duke and advance to the 2006 National Championship game. She is a skillful passer who knows how to get her team mates involved, she broke the ACC's 30 year old single season assist record. Kristi is mentally tough, a proven leader and will step right in and be a star at the next level. Shyala Fields of NC State is a likely third round draft pick. Her strength is her scoring ability. She is the second leading scorer in the ACC with 17.6 points per game. Fields is a gritty get it done type of player who is used to playing all 40 minutes of a game. She needs to improve defensively, but will be a solid addition to any WNBA roster. Chante Black of Duke is a true early first round pick at center, once Oklahoma's Courtney Paris is out of the mix, Black may be the highest ACC pick in the draft. At 6'5” she is a tremendous shot blocker and a real menis on defense. Black leads the Blue Devils in 12 of 22 statistical categories and is a regular double double threat. She has exceptional footwork and knows how to finish after the hit, or when double teamed. Virginia's Aisha Mohammed is a potential second round WNBA draft pick. The 6'3" bruiser from Nigeria is a true one two scoring and rebounding punch. She has the highest offensive rebound average in the ACC with 4 per game and leads the ACC with 9.3 rebounds a game despite the fact she had to sit out for 4 games after having arthroscopic surgery over christmas break. The former junior college All-American has had 10 double double's this season, because of her size and strength she is able to work with her back to the basket and score with ease. Next to Angel McCoughtry of Louisville, Marissa Coleman of Maryland is the best first round pick for the small forward position. Coleman is an all out hustler who can handle the ball, shoot from outside and is a physical player in the post. Her solid all around game is backed up by the fact that she is just the 3rd player in ACC history to amass 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 blocks. Coleman’s over all size and athleticism make her difficult to defend, meanwhile she is a tenacious defender in the paint. Lyndra Littles of Virginia is a very athletic, proven scorer averaging 20 points a game for the Cavaliers. In the open floor she is fast and handles the ball very well. In the paint she is physical with above footwork. Another plus for Littles is her 80% average from the free throw line. Expect her to go late in the first round. Rashanda McCants of North Carolina is a well rounded athlete, but due to the many options at forward, she will likely go in the second round. We like her speed in transition and , she has a nice low block jumper and is a real threat from the three point line... in fact she will need to shoot more threes to survive in the WNBA. McCants has great leaping ability and is very scrappy when going after loose balls. She is long and lean so many defenders in the paint can't stop her. On the block she is more about speed and finesse than banging bodies.