It's 'hands down' to block dunk

Give Angie Bjorklund credit for putting the whole truth in her advertising.

The Tennessee junior guard's sales pitch to her fellow students could've been all Lady Vols. But in the hopes of attracting more of her peers to the women's basketball season opener against Baylor in the State Farm Tipoff Classic at Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday (TV: ESPN2, 5 p.m.), Bjorklund sold another storyline. She also mentioned Brittney Griner, the Lady Bears' 6-foot-8 freshman center, and highlighted one of her skills.

"I've been telling some of the students - we sometimes get a few students coming - this girl can dunk, potentially dunk,'' Bjorklund said. "So you know if that brings in fans, then so be it.

"Our goal is to not let her dunk, hands down."

Griner enters the college game with a wealth of potential, having averaged 33 points, 15.5 rebounds and 11.7 blocks per game in her senior season at Nimitz High in Houston. She used her 7-foot-plus wingspan to amass a national-record 25 blocks in a game against Hastings.

Yet it's her prolific throw-down ability - 52 dunks in 32 games last season - that has attracted millions of viewers to YouTube and created the most advance fanfare. Although six women - former Lady Vols Michelle Snow and Candace Parker among them - have recorded dunks in regular-season college games, Griner could take the feat to greater heights.

She dunks with one or both hands. One of the YouTube videos shows her at practice last season, catching the ball off the backboard and dunking and also converting off a lob pass. During warmups for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association high school all-star game last April in St. Louis, Griner did a two-handed reverse slam.

Baylor drew more than 6,000 fans for each of its two exhibition games. Griner dunked in last Saturday's 81-52 victory over Incarnate Word and got a feel for the ripple effect.

"It excited me a lot but it really motivated the team and gave the crowd a spark,'' Griner said. "We feed off the crowd so it got us going."

UT coach Pat Summitt is concerned about Griner's total game for Sunday. Her flair for shot-blocking is especially worrisome. Summitt's promotional sensibility, though, enables her to see past what Griner might do to her team and appreciate what she can do for the sport.

"When we have players in the women's game who can play above the rim, it does generate more interest,'' Summitt said. "I think it's good for the game."

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey has her worries for Sunday. Turnstile count and TV ratings are not among them. She's shepherding four new starters and five freshmen into a hostile environment against a storied opponent. Mulkey went so far to say: "Winning or losing a game at this point of the season is almost secondary. There's so many question marks about your team."

Still, Mulkey understands the exclamation points affixed to Griner and her dunks. Mulkey had a Hall of Fame playing career at Louisiana Tech and was a member of the 1984 Gold Medal-winning U.S. team. She's seen a lot as a player and a coach but said: "I've never seen a girl play above the rim like Brittney Griner."

"When you see it for yourself, it's an attraction for those fans who really don't like women's basketball because it's played below the rim," Mulkey said. "It's an attraction for those males that have an ego that they don't want to give women credit, that you can't see some play above the rim. It's an attraction for the media because that's a highlight film in a lot of respects. You're going to have (added interest), and we expected it.

"I personally welcome it. I would welcome it if she wasn't at Baylor because I want people in the stands watching women's basketball and appreciating it."

Bjorklund's appreciation ends with her all-inclusive game promotion. She and the Lady Vols don't want to enable Griner to throw down highlights.

"Yeah, we talk about it a little bit,'' Bjorklund said. "But I won't make some of the comments we make."

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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