Mar 5th, 2010
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer saw the replay of the punch thrown by Baylor’s 6-8 freshman star Brittney Griner that landed on the face of a Texas Tech player on Wednesday, rocking women’s basketball.
(See video of punch here: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=4963605).
VanDerveer has always been willing to share her opinion on things, and here is what she said about the Griner punch.
Baylor freshman Brittney Griner had been known for her dunks -- AP photo by Rod Aydelotte
“I saw it,” VanDerveer said, “they showed it on TV. First, I think it’s sad that it takes a punch to get women’s basketball covered on television on Sports Center. I would have rather seen a dunk (Griner has dunked several times this season.)
“But I think that there’s different things that go on. First of all, for me, I think the games (in general) have been too physical. There’s so much contact, there’s an amazing amount of pushing and shoving and contact that a think a player like Jayne (Appel , a 6-4 Stanford center) or a player like Brittney Griner get very frustrated.
“But having said that, I think that kind of reaction (by Griner), even though provoked — and I’m not saying it was in that situation, but during the year I’m sure she’s gotten a lot of attention, a lot of banging – that reaction is never acceptable and you cannot condone that kind of behavior.
“I don’t know what the consequences will be, but they should be severe.”
VanDerveer noted that the Stanford-Arizona State game last week was physical, but so have others.
“The UCLA game, the game Jayne was ejected in (for landing an elbow while trying to clear space with the ball), there are people climbing all over her and grabbing her arms. Some of the reaction is that players are trying to protect themselves and just try to hold onto the ball, but not in that situation (with Griner), when someone goes after someone. A punch is totally inappropriate.”
Asked whether the women’s game is more physical than in past years, VanDerveer said, “I have always felt that the (NCAA) tournament is extremely physical. In some ways – I have talked to our Pac-10 officials coordinator Gooch Foster, to say that we don’t want to play by two different sets of rules (between the regular season in the Pac-10 and the postseason). I’m not complaining about the fact that it’s physical, I’m just saying that it is. I think at the NCAA level it should be called tighter straight out, across the board from the beginning, with each game being called the same way. It may be impossible, but we should aim for that.”
“Every year before the season starts, we get memos about the fact that rough post play will be called (fouls), and it’s not. She (Griner) is a very talented player, and she doesn’t want to be known for this. Go back to the Ohio State-Minnesota situation or Rudy Tomjanovich, that situation. We don’t want that type of play or behavior in our game.”
VanDerveer was referring to two incidents in the 1970s.
One was the 1972 incident in which Ohio State center Luke Witte was kneed in the groin by one Minnesota player (Corkey Taylor), then had his head stomped on by another Minnesota player (Ron Behagen) while he was on the ground. The two Minnesota players were suspended for the rest of the season for an incident that occurred in January. Witte is now a minister
Here is a video of that incident:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxnCY0CZ1pE
The other was the 1977 NBA game in which Kermit Washington punched Rudy Tomjanovich and broke his jaw. Washington was fined $10,000 and suspended for 60 days as a result. Those who know Washington now see him as a high-character person who is one of the nicest people around. He has never dodged question about the incident, which, unfortunately, will define his basketball career.
See two videos of that incident here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgqUZ1IAA_8
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/09/oregon-boise-state-legarrette-blount.html
The incident with Griner is particularly significant because Griner is already one of the best players in the country and has a chance to develop into one of the best players ever. She’s averaging 19.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.0 blocks, plus she’s a willing and accurate passer. He command of the game, combined with her size, make her the most significant player in women’s college basketball at the moment.
