Today's basketball trivia

[Phil]

Please, no Googling.

The girl who counts in basketball is the one who is always on the alert yet is outwardly calm and collected, who makes no meaningless moments but is always in the right place when an opportunity offers to get the ball.

Question 1. Who do you think said these words?
Question 2. When (approximately) were they said
Question 3. Which UConn player, past or present, is best described by the sentence? (Or other team)


(I altered one character in the quote for reasons I will explain later. Extra credit if you can guess what this means.)

 

[cferraro04]

Guessing here...Geno, speaking to Kelly Faris

 

[Phil]

Not Geno.

I don't believe the author had any particular person in mind, so there isn't a "right" answer to question 3, that's just for our own fun. But I think Faris is a good fit.

 

[pinotbear]

To me, the language doesn't fit Geno - a bit too formal, almost John Wooden-esque. The use of the word "girl" makes me think that the quote is either a bit old, or the speaker is. I'm still pondering a good fit, as the quote makes me think of somebody who would be precise and efficient in their movement, with no wasted action, and great foresight as to how a play would develope.

 

[Phil]

Yeah, Geno would say "guy".

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Sounds like the inventor of WBB, whose name has departed my noggin. Sarah something. Before 1900.

I've heard the quote, which doesn't mean I actually remember who said it.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Please, no Googling.





Question 1. Who do you think said these words?
Question 2. When (approximately) were they said
Question 3. Which UConn player, past or present, is best described by the sentence? (Or other team)


(I altered one character in the quote for reasons I will explain later. Extra credit if you can guess what this means.)

I have no idea who uttered the quote but I'd guess the character you changed was in the word "moments" where it was changed from movements except that that would seem to make 2 characters.

 

[Phil]

I have no idea who uttered the quote but I'd guess the character you changed was in the word "moments" where it was changed from movements except that that would seem to make 2 characters.

No I removed a single character, which happened to be a space. That's a big hint.

 

[Phil]

I have no idea who uttered the quote but I'd guess the character you changed was in the word "moments" where it was changed from movements except that that would seem to make 2 characters.

Actually, that's quite an interesting observation.

I thought maybe I mistyped, but I didn't. However, I copied it from a transcript, so I looked at the original document, and I think the original document has "movements".
I passed this observation on to the archivist of this historical document, and maybe they will correct it.

 

[pinotbear]

so, I'm guessing a space between "basket" and "ball", which would certainly date the quote a bit. Perhaps even going back to the founding of the game?

 

[Phil]

Very good. Do you want to make a more specific guess?

 

[Icebear]

Buddha at the end of the Second Dynasty. He was prophesying of the advent of the Mayans.

 

[Phil]

Well, it is an old quote, but not that old.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Question 3. Which UConn player, past or present, is best described by the sentence? (Or other team)

I, too, will say Kelly Faris most embodies the statement. Never have I seen anyone make a living out of being in the right place at the right time as well as she.

 

[Bestiarius]

My guess is Senda Berenson Abbott. When she rewrote the basketball rules for the women's game in the first decade of the 1900s. Faris would be my guess.

 

[VAUConnFan]

1. Maya Moore
2. Prior to enrolling at UConn in 2007
3. Maya Moore, the most opportunistic scorer I have seen at the college level.

 

[Phil]

Bestiarius nailed it. Senda Berenson Abbott (Senda Berenson at the time) introduced basketball to women at Smith College in 1892, shortly after reading Naismith's rules. In 1899, she wrote the first edition of the Basketball Guide for Women. The quote comes from her (undated, but approximately fall of 1899) draft of the Guide.

The sentence isn't easy to read, but it starts on the fourth line of this page.

 

[Phil]

And yes, basketball was spelled basket ball in the early years, so I removed the space so as not to give it away too quickly.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

3. Maya Moore, the most opportunistic scorer I have seen at the college level.

I don't want to argue your choice because it is an excellent one. I would like to point out that scoring is but one, albeit the most important, aspect of the game. Sometimes Maya got things done by physically imposing her will on an opponent. Kelly never got a rebound because she was the most dominant player at the ball. More often than not she was just the one best positioned for the action.

 

[Phil]

Oops, minor correction. Her rules were first published in 1899, her guide was first published in 1901, but the notes were for a paper called Basketball for Women, first published in 1903.

 

[rocky rococo]

3. Tamika Williams.

 

[Phil]

I think Tamika fits the bill.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I don't want to argue your choice because it is an excellent one. I would like to point out that scoring is but one, albeit the most important, aspect of the game. Sometimes Maya got things done by physically imposing her will on an opponent. Kelly never got a rebound because she was the most dominant player at the ball. More often than not she was just the one best positioned for the action.

Physically, the only difference between Maya and Kelly is the one inch in height. I dare say that Kelly is every bit as strong, quick and fast as Maya; Likely dribbles better also. Maya is able to physically impose her will on an opponent because she is a darn good basketball player capable of utilizing all of her physical attributes to great advantage.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I might also add that Maya Moore works every bit as hard to secure rebounds, very often against bigger opponents, than anyone else that plays the game. It is no accident that Maya is the second leading rebounder in UConn WCBB history.