A delicate topic that can't be ignored
Storrs
Geno Auriemma's brilliance coaching the UConn women for the last 30 years starts here: He doesn't treat his players like girls. Or women. He treats them like players. Unafraid to be pointed, direct and sometimes salty. With unyielding expectations.
Auriemma acts as such because that's what he believes. What he was taught. And because of what he hates the most about women's sports: how everything has to be, in his words, "lovey dovey all the time."
I suspect that if more women's coaches were as absolute, women's sports would command more consistent respect. And that if female athletes want more equal treatment in society to male counterparts, they should be subjected to similar criticisms, however biting they might be.
It is for this reason that I believe Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis' weight is an appropriate topic in a public forum.
I know. Delicate. She's a kid, not a professional. But, you know, if Charles Barkley was the "round mound of rebound" when he played at Auburn, why is it out of bounds to discuss the importance of whether Mosqueda-Lewis can get in better shape by March and thus fulfill the responsibility she has to her teammates?
It's an uncomfortable discussion, sure.
But fair.
Besides, aside from injury, Mosqueda-Lewis' inability to move faster - and by extension, guard anything beyond a chair - is the single biggest obstacle imperiling the 10th championship for the UConn women.
Mosqueda-Lewis got exposed Monday night at Stanford. Karlie Samuelson, who isn't exactly Gary Payton, smothered her. Stanford's guards whizzed past. Stanford's use of ball screens with Mosqueda-Lewis in the vicinity produced scoring opportunities because she wasn't moving fast enough. Others will mimic Stanford's strategy until UConn makes successful adjustments.
I'm not saying that reshaping her body in some form will turn her into Danielle Robinson.
But it would help.
I understand this will offend some folks. I get this is a beyond-the-basketball issue because women are often perceived through how they look and not what they do. I despise the Neanderthals who watch women's sports to ogle, not appreciate.
I fear this will be perceived as providing those on the low side of the learning curve more fodder.
This is an issue that needs to be addressed through two prisms: Mosqueda-Lewis' responsibility to her teammates and her professional future. She is a senior and should be relied upon for guidance and production, not to be a liability. She is a gifted shooter. She might have been UConn's best rebounder in last season's NCAA tournament. But circumstances have changed. She owes her teammates and her coaches more now.
She also owes herself. Seattle Storm coach Brian Agler attended the game at Stanford. His team has the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft. What do you suppose he concluded?
Mosqueda-Lewis, ill since Thursday, wasn't at Gampel Pavilion for Sunday's win over Creighton. Auriemma, however, spoke. Here is Geno verbatim:
"I don't think it's any secret to anybody who sees us play and sees 'K' that, you know, she's not able to get to the spots on the floor that she used to be able to go to," he said. "Last year, she compensated in NCAA tournament by getting inside and being tougher in the lane and she became a much better rebounder. But I think against the very best teams we're going to play, we're going to have to find a way to work a lot harder to get her the same shots we used to be able to get her. That's a function of just the way teams are going to play her. They don't have to worry about a couple of other guys that we had.
"It's not a big stretch to say the best shooter in the country was like our fourth option last year," he said. "With Stef (Dolson), Stewie (Breanna Stewart) and Bria (Hartley) doing what they did, I think that's role that K really relished. Now that role has to be expanded."
But is Mosqueda-Lewis willing to do what's necessary to do so?
I'm sure UConn women's fans, perpetually maternal and paternal, will jump to Mosqueda-Lewis' defense and point to my own midriff, suggesting that since I can pinch more than an inch, I'm tossing boulders at glass houses. The difference: I don't have teammates relying on my improved athletic ability to accomplish their ultimate goal.
"A lot of these guys have been in the back seat of a really, really nice car the last two years, especially these juniors," Auriemma said. "And those other guys, Stef and Bria and Kelly, drove these guys to the Final Four. … Now they left and these guys are in the front seat going 'I don't know exactly how to drive this baby.' 'I better not make a wrong turn and I better pay attention.' It's completely different for these guys."
Which gives Mosqueda-Lewis all the more responsibility.
This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.
Twitter: @BCgenius
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