Shoni Shimmel and the New York Liberty

[Geew1992]

Laimbeer: Schimmel's 'choice' to not join team

 

[noirwestern]

Somehow I can't find it in me to be surprised.

 

[JordyG]

Why do so many turn pro then turn toward the dinner table? One would think the opposite would be the case.

 

[McFly]

While we don't know the reason for her not showing up, Laimbeer doesn't sound too thrilled. When she reported out of shape for her second season in Atlanta, it occurred to me that if she was serious about a career in professional basketball, she should also play overseas.

 

[HGN]

I think Shoni is finding out what many of us already know.......That it's easier putting it on than taking it off.

 

[Striper69]

Her behavior is baffling to me.

Look at her sister. She tried out last year and would seemingly do anything just to get a chance to stick with a team.

(Shakes my head)...

 

[willtalk]

What is baffling to me is that some people hold her up as a role model. Her sister would be a much better role model than her. Jude is someone who gives it her all rather than just trying to get by on her inherent talent.

 

[eebmg]

She is a good example of the danger that can happen when your main goal is to make the "wow" play and not the best play. She was indulged in college and for a while in the WNBA but when the opposition catches up to your tricks and you don't put in the work to improve (not even thinking about the weight).

I imagine the only thing that would make sense is for her to go to a team which can attract a significant Native American fan base which would force her to get serious and better (peer pressure)

Unfortunately, Jude never had the skill set to go to the next level but I hope she can be happy knowing she gave it her all.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

A background piece. http://uoflcardgame.com/shoni-schimmel-not-much-factor-new-york-liberty/51833/ I suspect she was told if you come in and weigh more than X, you'll be cut and, in essence, has been given a year's reprieve to get it together. Would not appear to be headed in the right direction.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Some examples of pros who got serious about their diets and bodies:

Diana Taurasi
Sue Bird
Maya Moore
Tina Charles
Kara Lawson
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt

I would love to see KML follow their lead.

 

[EricLA]

I think Shoni's flash is generally good for the league, but the problem is, almost everyone in the league is faster, stronger, bigger, and better than players in college. If Shoni can't raise the level of her game (and in her case, the primary detriment is her fitness and weight), then she simply won't make it.

Maybe Shoni thought she could continue they way she did in college, but the pros are a whole different level, and clearly she's not doing everything she can personally to make it. I wish her the best, but at least she has a college degree to fall back on...

 

[trb123]

Why did Liberty get Shoni in the first place? Chances that she would lose weight was always very low.

 

[Florida Fan]

Reservation blue

Why did Liberty get Shoni in the first place? Chances that she would lose weight was always very low.[/QUOTE}

Reservation Blues. This is all conjecture, the chaos that exists on some reservations, the rampant drug and alcohol abuse and the full range of family dysfunction, which may have NOTHING to do with Shoni's current inability to meet WNBA standards. It is difficult for players to move from reservation to full-successful college integration, the social barriers, for many, too high. But she isn't the only player having trouble transitioning to the nesx level, so I could be way off base.
But she was a major part of the one of the greatest upsets of all WCBB NCAA tournament games. In 2013, Shoni helped open the door for UCONN and ND to fight for the championship, and the Huskies walked through.

 

[Husky1964]

Also Big Mamma Stef, Another who became svelte!!!!

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I wonder whether this is an emotional issue, and weight is just a symptom? This is a tremendously talented player, an exciting, explosive guard. She's had up's and down's with Louisville. But then there have been the glimpses of sheer genius. How many points did she score in the WNBA all-star game?

I wonder what's happening in her young life, in her family life. Natalie Butler left UConn soon after hinting at turmoil that plagued her all year long.

Let's hope that this talented young lady sorts out her life and her career.

 

[Striper69]

Reservation blue

I go on a local "indian" reservation all the time to use their range to shot my guns. On the way back last week I picked up an indian guy in his 50s who was walking along the highway. He was going to the next town to get drunk. He told me he was a "drinker" and acted like he was proud of it. LOL

I just told him to be careful because there are mountain lions around. He tried to bum money off me when I dropped him off. LOL!

 

[NOI33]

I go on a local "indian" reservation all the time to use their range to shot my guns. On the way back last week I picked up an indian guy in his 50s who was walking along the highway. He was going to the next town to get drunk. He told me he was a "drinker" and acted like he was proud of it. LOL

I just told him to be careful because there are mountain lions around. He tried to bum money off me when I dropped him off. LOL!

Ok...what exactly is your point with this story? What does this have to do with Shoni Schimmel and her struggles? Did I miss an article discussing alcohol/drug abuse that has plagued her or her family? Your post just sounds silly and ridiculous.

Anyways, not unlike a multitude of young Americans, Shoni is obviously finding it difficult keeping her weight down and fitness level high. She has had a big frame for as long as I have been following her tremendous basketball trajectory. I recall Coach Walz benching her at the start of her Junior year due to fitness issues. She got the message and got in the best shape of her life to finish off her College career. She entered the WNBA in great shape, and this was evident in her ability to lead the high-paced Atl Dream team. She was more than capable of keeping up with other players. Something went awry after her Freshman campaign and things never improved. Her grandma was very sick the fall after her Freshman year and she didn't play overseas. She has a very tight knit family and it has been reported that she said she prefers to spend time with them and give speeches around the country rather than earn extra money overseas. This might have been a big mistake for her basketball career, but who are we to judge and assume?

 

[UcMiami]

I like Shoni and everyone I think is seeing this from the perspective of a WNBA GM who 'owns her rights'. She became one of the biggest native american heroes of the recent past, and perhaps that has just taken her in a different direction in her life - she and her sister devoted a lot of time to giving back to the NA community during summers and now during off seasons. Her chance of making it long term in the W were not great to begin with given her height and quickness - she was never going to be a good defender and she was always a streaky shooter and not terribly efficient. Given those factors, I think perhaps her fire for basketball has waned. There was a story a ways back about the cultural heritage of throwing feasts for honored visitors and how that summer/off season travel that she was doing made diet and nutrition something very difficult to maintain.

I think people should celebrate the role model she provided through college and a few years of pro ball - she and to a lesser degree her sister turned res-ball into something akin to the playgrounds of inner cities, and maybe in a few years we will see the effects with more kids off reservations getting college scholarships or at least pursuing athletics as opposed to other forms of less healthy recreation - if so she will have had a bigger impact on society than she would have playing 10 years in the W.

 

[Striper69]

Ok...what exactly is your point with this story? What does this have to do with Shoni Schimmel and her struggles? Did I miss an article discussing alcohol/drug abuse that has plagued her or her family? Your post just sounds silly and ridiculous.

Anyways, not unlike a multitude of young Americans, Shoni is obviously finding it difficult keeping her weight down and fitness level high. She has had a big frame for as long as I have been following her tremendous basketball trajectory. I recall Coach Walz benching her at the start of her Junior year due to fitness issues. She got the message and got in the best shape of her life to finish off her College career. She entered the WNBA in great shape, and this was evident in her ability to lead the high-paced Atl Dream team. She was more than capable of keeping up with other players. Something went awry after her Freshman campaign and things never improved. Her grandma was very sick the fall after her Freshman year and she didn't play overseas. She has a very tight knit family and it has been reported that she said she prefers to spend time with them and give speeches around the country rather than earn extra money overseas. This might have been a big mistake for her basketball career, but who are we to judge and assume?

My post has everything to do with what might be happening with her (though I pray it's not). It's certainly not silly or ridiculous.

I know first hand what could and does happen to people on indian reservations. I, in fact, am a tribal member of the reservation I was speaking of.

The manner in which the guy I was describing is exactly how a lot of the people (male and female) behave on these "reservations".

I was looking for deer antlers last spring and parked in the cemetery of that reservation and saw some guys digging a grave. I went up and asked them who they were digging it for. A guy told me that it was for a guy (38 years old) who had died of liver disease fro drinking.

Last April I found out that a cousin I was very fond of had died a slow and painful death of the same disease. She was living in Seattle and had her family ship her body back to the same cemetery to be buried.

There's a very hot issue going on right now in the courts about how establishments in a Nebraska town close to the Pine Ridge Sioux reservation in South Dakota are able to sell alcohol to addicted members of that tribe.

Hopefully she doesn't have a drinking problem but finds a way to keep her weight and fitness under control.

 

[Striper69]

I'll expand on my post a bit...

a couple of months ago 2 young HS girls (one was a freshman) were thrown out of a car driven by a slightly older relative that went off a road and crashed. I was told that they were all drunk at the time.

As I went to Native American HS BB tournaments this winter I read a lot of stuff written by adults that there was a serious Meth problem on their reservations.

At the tournament in Rapid City I read articles in the local newspaper that the local tribes had serious alcohol, drug and suicide problems with their young people.

I'm trying in a small way to help some of the HS Girl's BB players I see get a look from any colleges I can connect to.