Tough task ahead for cagebelles

Getting intimidated by taller and experienced players is the least of the CNMI Women’s Nationals’ worries when they compete in the 2009 FIBA Oceania Basketball Tournament next month.

“They will go to the court with an attitude that they will not be intimidated by any team they face,” said CNMI Women’s Nationals coach William “Bill” Sewell Jr.

Sewell’s young and inexperienced players are heading for a tough competition and the 59-year-old coach’s task is to make sure his wards will not be overwhelmed by their favored opponents through drills and rigorous training sessions.

The CNMI Women’s Nationals are in Pool A of the Oceania caging and will play Guam, New Zealand, and defending SPG gold medalist Fiji. Pool B is consists of Tahiti, New Caledonia, Palau, and Australia.

“We will be playing against some female athletes who will be able to move like guys, shoot like guys, and play physically strong like guys, so we do not practice against girls, but against guys in the late teens or early 20s,” Sewell said.

The 30-year coaching veteran said this type of scrimmage is hard for the CNMI Women’s Nationals as they play against guys after having run drills for about two hours.

But Sewell said the girls are up to the challenge, as their goal is to earn respect for the CNMI women’s basketball program by being competitive.

“Our team is young, mostly high school students, who do not spend enough time playing the game of basketball all year round,” Sewell said.

Yvonne and Yvette Bennett, Nikita Hofscheider, and Mercedita Mesa of Kagman Lady Ayuyus, Lia Rangamar and Jen Benavente of MHS Lady Dolphins, and Noelle Calvo and Nicole Lebria of Mt. Carmel School, are among the members of the CNMI Women’s Nationals. Also on the team is veteran Connie Camacho.

The team is practicing six times a week between two and a half to three hours at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium, hoping to work on their weaknesses and capitalize on their strengths.

“They are still learning how to cool under fire. But their passing skills have gone way up and their ability to find an open spot is improving with each practice. To the team’s credit, when we first started practicing against men’s teams, we were losing by 30 to 35 points per game. Now, the last two times out we lost by 12 and won one by four,” Sewell said.

“We have some shooters who have both short range accuracy and downtown capability and when left open they have the ability of making a defense pay. If our passing game keeps improving, our shooting should improve, too, because we will get more open shots,” the Fall River, Massachusetts native added.

Sewell also believes being decisive on fastbreak plays and keeping quick pace are important.

“We should be able to run, run, and run. It is going to be extremely important that we are still able to run in the fourth quarter like we can run in the first. Making short crisp quick passes to the open man right away needs work, too, as we think too much before we pass,” Sewell said.

The CNMI cagebelles will be up against towering players from New Zealand and if they make it to the succeeding rounds, the hosts may also face tall frontliners from Australia, Tahiti, and New Caledonia. A consistent running game is one of the offensive options against teams with taller players, who may neutralize foes in a halfcourt and slow-down offensive set.

Defensively, Sewell is looking for more aggressiveness.

“We still hold back too much. We are too polite. We do not mix it up enough under the boards. We shy away from contacts. Playing under the boards is nothing but contact,” said the former FSM National Basketball Team coach.

“If we want to give other teams a good fight, in the next five weeks we have to jell as a team, understand what each person’s responsibilities are and trust that our partners on the court will carry out their responsibilities,” Sewell added.