Tweet
Of course, I got to say she looks like a boy and has a man's voice....
-
Of course, I got to say she looks like a boy and has a man's voice....
Last edited by stuart; 03-03-2009, 01:18 AM.aim low, score high -
When I see those videos I always have to think "what if this was really a dude", the fact that she hardly has any womanly features supports that thought. If shes a girl than I think shes amazing but if shes a dude than thats just weird. -
Brittney Griner named nation's No.1 player
"Jeff Fedotin
Special to Rivals High
A video clip showcasing the dunks of Nimitz (Texas) High's 6-foot-8 basketball star Brittney Griner has drawn more than 2 million hits on the Internet.
But none of the viewers was bigger – literally or figuratively – than 7-1 Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O'Neal. "The Diesel" agreed to meet Griner last year while in Houston to face the Rockets, and it resulted in a new experience for her.
One of Griner's biggest fans - literally and figuaratively - is the larger than life Shaq.
"I really felt small for the first time," Griner said.
The 18-year-old with an 86-inch wingspan and size-17 shoes has towered over her peers since kindergarten. To put her height in perspective, only one WNBA player, 7-2 Los Angeles Sparks center Margo Dydek, is taller.
But the reasons for her basketball success extend beyond her mammoth frame. Griner possesses great agility, athleticism and speed. She finished first during the team's mile run with a time of 6 minutes, 40 seconds.
The senior's size and skills account for her jaw-dropping statistics. She has averaged 27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds, 8.4 blocks, 2.6 assists, and 2.6 steals for the No. 24 team in the RivalsHigh Top 25, Houston school. During those 32 games, she has 17 triple-doubles and has shot 70 percent from the floor. Her numbers reflect a once-in-a-generation talent, and make her the RivalsHigh.com no. 1 player in the class of 2009.
"She will change the face of women's basketball." Nimitz coach Debbie Jackson said. "There really is not a high school player that has played like Brittney Griner has. There's no doubt in my mind that she will be one of the top notch collegiate players, and it won't take long for her to do that."
She demonstrated those transcendent abilities during Nimitz's season-opening game against Hastings High. Griner set a national record with 25 blocks. It was a woman-among-girls performance with her frequent rejections helping limit Hastings to 18 points.
"She's just tenacious on defense," Jackson said. "She takes a lot of pride in it."
Defense and rebounding serve as Griner's forte, but her dunking has become an Internet sensation. Before the Sparks' Lisa Leslie recorded the first dunk during WNBA play in 2002, women had dunked only seven times during college and professional action between 1984 and 2002. Griner, however, averages about two a game.
Her first in-game dunk occurred two years ago against Northbrook High. Nimitz's Samone Ballard stole the ball and lobbed a pass to Griner, whose explosive first step allowed her to beat everyone down the court. She capped the fast break with a slam, sending the crowd and team into an absolute frenzy. Ballard celebrated by jumping on Griner's back.
"I actually took a timeout just to get everybody settled down," Jackson said.
Griner owns an extensive dunking repertoire. She can dunk running or standing and with one hand or two. Those jams have not only become a YouTube staple but also were featured on SportsCenter's top 10 plays. She is working on nailing both a 360 dunk and one where she jumps over a teammate. For her, dunking has become a mundane practice ritual.
"It's just like a person taking a free throw shot," said her father, Raymond. "I see it every day."
She will take her dunking skills to Baylor next season. Griner selected that school over Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, Connecticut, Rutgers and LSU because of its close proximity to home, strong program and passionate coach, Kim Mulkey.
Wow. Shaq watched me on YouTube.
— Brittney Griner.
"She's really intense when it comes to basketball," Griner said. "But she'll love you to death, which I like."
Griner will continue to round out her game at Baylor. Her current focus involves improving her shooting range, ball-handling and hook shot. Most important, Griner aims to improve her free throw shooting, which stands at 51 percent.
Mulkey, though, will mold a player with limitless potential. Griner only has played organized basketball since the ninth grade. But the 6-3 freshman took quickly to the game, earning all-district honors during that season.
"She's like a sponge that just keeps absorbing," Jackson said.
Griner did not play team basketball until high school so she could concentrate on her studies and other sports like soccer and volleyball. Jackson found Griner after a fall volleyball practice during her freshman year and suggested she hoop it up when the volleyball season concluded. But Griner did not need much encouragement. Several of her friends joined the basketball team, and she enjoyed the game.
Growing up she had played recreationally. Raymond had taught her some fundamentals, including a few moves and shooting mechanics. Father and daughter also competed in one-on-one games, but she became a little too much to handle around her sophomore year.
"She blocked most of my shots," Raymond said.
Raymond, a former Marine and a retired deputy sheriff, is 6-2, and Brittney's mother, Sandra, a cosmetologist at Lone Star College, is 5-8. Griner has several male and female cousins who also stand well above 6 feet.
A recent doctor's visit confirmed that her height was not caused by a pituitary gland condition. According to a physician's estimate, Griner likely will continue growing and could end up 6-9 or 6-10 — something she would welcome.
Lacking self-consciousness and displaying a comfort with her size, Griner calls her height an asset. She said she never considered herself an outcast because of her stature or remembers being the source of derision. If anything, she calls herself out in a self-deprecating manner.
"I'll be the first one to make a joke about me being taller," Griner said. "I don't let it get to me or anything. I love being tall."
A B-student, who frequently answered a reporter's questions with a "yes, sir," she remains grounded and a consummate teammate despite the burgeoning national attention.
"She's a real humble kid," Raymond said.
She described her nervousness upon meeting O'Neal during their 20-minute visit at the Toyota Center, which a journalist arranged. He chided her dunking ability and told her he had seen some of her footage on YouTube, and that floored Griner.
"[It's] kind of backwards," Griner said. "Wow. Shaq watched me on YouTube."
O'Neal advised her to prioritize family life, work out vigorously and remain healthy. Along with those objectives, Griner would like to play basketball in the Olympics and overseas.
She also wants to become a SWAT unit officer. Inherited from her father, the affinity for law enforcement is something she shares with O'Neal, who has said he will become a sheriff or chief of police upon retiring from the NBA.
Griner's career arc on the basketball court may mirror the dominant big man's as well".
Wow! She's like the next Lebron for the women
(She might end up being better than Candace Parker if she continues like this)
Here's the link:
Last edited by Khalid80; 03-01-2009, 10:27 PM.Comment
-
Originally posted by FedfanOriginally posted by GuTOComment
-
Absolutely wonderful!! This young lady can jump! It's about time. Semjanova is the only female player I've ever seen really dunk. Candace Parker's dunks are always so...I don't know...not quite there. But this Griner, man, she looks like a great player! Thanks for posting the info.Originally posted by Khalid80 View PostWow! She's like the next Lebron for the women (She might end up being better than Candace Parker if she continues like this)"I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas MotiejunasComment
-
A few other dunks by women:
Originally posted by FedfanOriginally posted by GuTOComment
-
Is the basket at the same height as in men's game?Comment
-
I remember watching a couple of legit dunks by Dydek when she played in Spain.Originally posted by mvblair View PostOriginally posted by FIBA Europe BasketComment
-
Griner throws down another one tonight:
Finished with 44 points (19-21 FG) and 18 rebounds.Originally posted by FedfanOriginally posted by GuTOComment
-
Griner's first college slam dunk for Baylor
StuartLast edited by stuart; 11-25-2009, 07:26 PM.Comment
-
Brittney Griner has triple-double, misses 3 dunks
StuartTen games into the season, Brittney Griner might not be dunking as much as we anticipated, but she is definitely living up to the hype - recording the school's first triple double with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 blocks.Comment
-
Griner gets 2 dunks in 1 game
"Griner dunks twice, No.5 Baylor rolls 99-18
WACO, Texas (AP)—Brittney Griner and No. 5 Baylor put on a show—at the expense of Texas State.
Griner dunked twice, set the school record for blocked shots in a season and the Bears nearly set an NCAA record for fewest points allowed in a 99-18 thrashing of Texas State on Saturday night.
“We would have beat a lot of teams tonight,” Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. “I don’t care who we would have played tonight, this basketball team was ready to play.”
Griner scored 26 points and became the second player to dunk more than once in a women’s college game. Tennessee’s Candace Parker had two dunks against Army on March 19, 2005.
Griner also had eight rebounds and three blocked shots to help Mulkey get her 250th win. The blocks gave Griner the Baylor record for blocks in a season with 87, just 14 games in.
“I’m not sure when she finishes her four years, anybody will come close to her shot-block record,” Mulkey said.
The Bobcats had only five points on 2 for 32 shooting at halftime, setting a Baylor record by an opponent.
Baylor just missed out on the NCAA Division I records for fewest points allowed in a half and game. Florida State surrendered three points in the first half against Savannah State on Nov. 23, 2003, and TCU yielded 16 points against Texas Southern on Dec. 30, 2002 to set the mark for a game involving two Division I schools.
Diamond Ford led Texas State (4-7) with seven points.
Griner got the second dunk of her career on the first basket in the second half. On a fast break, Kelli Griffin passed across the lane to Melissa Jones, who dumped the ball off to a trailing Griner. Griner took the pass and threw it down strongly with two hands, giving Baylor a 49-5 lead with 19:36 left in the game.
“The one in transition, we just didn’t match up,” Texas State coach Suzanne Fox said. “If it was anybody else, it wouldn’t have been a dunk. It would have been a layup.”
With 17:53 remaining, Griner, standing on the baseline, took a pass and made a one-handed dunk.
“There’s not anyone, especially in our Southland league, comparable to Brittney Griner. There’s not, in very many places in the country, (a player) comparable to her,” Fox said. “You really can’t emulate how she’s going to distort things on the offensive and defensive end. You just can’t emulate that in a practice setting. So that’s a challenge for us.”
Comment
-
No boobs?
But in all seriousness I see "this" as a big issue in women's sports today. I am a big supporter of women's sports and will catch an women's basketball game if it's on TV, but with the current rise of she-males and other queers (nothing against them, just saying) it seems like it's inevitable that women's sports will be ruled by Juwanna Manns -- and lose the original point. Wasn't there a South African runner whose gender was questioned some time ago? I'm not saying Brittney Griner is a male or what-not, but I doubt she will make a bigger impact than Candace Parker, just for one simple fact --- Parker looks like a woman (good-looking too) .Last edited by sinobball; 03-22-2010, 10:22 PM.aim low, score highComment
-
Griner with a tournament-record 14 blocks in Baylor's ugly 49-33 win over Georgetown. The Hoyas shot 12-71 from the field.Originally posted by FedfanOriginally posted by GuTOComment
Comment