Posted by Mechelle Voepel
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Middle Tennessee might be considered the Sun Belt favorite, but coach Rick Insell doesn't want to depend on winning the league's automatic bid in order to go to the NCAA tournament.
Yes, his squad has won the conference tournament three of his four years at MTSU. But he'd rather make sure his RPI and strength of schedule are strong enough to get his team an at-large berth if the Blue Raiders fall short of the automatic.
Certainly, Middle Tennessee is playing a tough schedule, including traveling Wednesday to No 15 LSU. On Nov. 25, the Blue Raiders' Murphy Center is expected to be sold out for a visit from No. 5 Tennessee. MTSU also will face No. 14 Xavier, No. 19 Louisville and South Dakota State -- all on the road -- and hosts Kentucky.
"I would much rather play teams like that than have an easy schedule," MTSU forward Brandi Brown said. "Ever since I've been here, that's what Coach Insell has tried to do."
But the Blue Raiders want to do more than just face a lot of strong opponents; they want to beat them.
"This is our fifth year here," said Insell, who took over the program in May 2005 after an extremely successful 28-year career at Shelbyville Central High in Tennessee. "And one of the things we felt when we came here was that if we were going to get this program up with some of the best in the country, then our out-of-conference schedule would have to be tougher. So we did it by design.
"And we felt like if we could win some of those games, it would enhance our chances at an at-large bid if we needed that. We know we're not going to win all those games, but we're going to take the chance that we'll win some of them."
Middle Tennessee is ready for this difficult of a nonconference slate thanks to a six-member senior class led by Alysha Clark. She led Division I in scoring last season (27.5 ppg) and was one of ESPN.com's first-team All-Americans.
Clark is already off to a strong start, being named Sun Belt player of the week after her 32-point, 15-rebound performance Sunday in the Blue Raiders' 78-53 season-opening victory over Central Florida.
Middle Tennessee does face a problem all-too-familiar for good programs outside the so-called "big six" conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Pac-10). Many schools from those leagues don't want to face MTSU, even if the Blue Raiders are willing to go on the road to play them. MTSU's success has made the Blue Raiders too "risky" an opponent to some teams.
"A lot of them won't schedule us," Insell said. "And I can't blame those people because when they go into their conference, like in the SEC, they're thinking their league schedule is tough enough. Everybody has to do what's best for their program. Our thoughts are to schedule as tough as we can. We lose these seniors after this year, but next year we're still going to schedule as tough as we can."
Tennessee, however, is willing to play MTSU and comes to Murfreesboro, which is about a half-hour south of Nashville. In fact, Insell and Tennessee's Pat Summitt are appearing at a breakfast with fans the morning of the Nov. 25 game. Both coaches will address the crowd; 700 tickets have already been sold.
Posted by Mechelle Voepel
The murder of Spartak owner Shabtai von Kalmanovic in Moscow on Monday will have some kind of effect on the entire world of professional women's basketball. Exactly what that will be is what we'll have to wait to find out.
MORE ON SPARTAK
In the Russian pro league, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are paid and pampered like Shaq and Dwyane Wade. Revisit Jim Caple's E-Ticket from May 2007, Rolling In Rubles.
Kalmanovic, who was shot to death in his car, paid stars such as Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson salaries far greater than what they made in the WNBA. He gave them presents and bonuses, took them on shopping trips and provided posh living arrangements.
In return, the basketball enthusiast got championships. His passion for the sport was very clear … but his past and his business dealings were more murky. Kalmanovic was Lithuanian by birth but then moved to Israel, where he later spent five years in prison for passing military secrets to the KGB.
With the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, he was among the businessmen to accumulate an enormous amount of wealth in what was sort of a free-for-all in a country that still is finding its way economically and politically.
Well, that's perhaps too nice a way to put it. In Russia, there is an enormous amount of organized crime but not as organized (or as powerful) a means to combat it.
Furthermore, it's difficult to discern the so-called "good guys" from the "bad guys" when it comes to business or politics in Russia. In no small part because there are plenty of people who are both, depending on whom you ask and what situations they're dealing with.
What Kalmanovic might have been involved in is subject to lot of speculation, but he inspired great loyalty among the players he treated well. What will happen to Spartak now?
WNBA officials said they had contacted several of the players who currently are or previously did compete for Spartak and all declined comment. WNBA president Donna Orender also has yet to comment on the Kalmanovic's death and what that could mean for those WNBA players who've financially benefited from their connection with him.
The CSKA women's team in Russia folded earlier this fall. Two of the bigger names that were signed to play for that squad, San Antonio's Becky Hammon and Indiana's Katie Douglas, have moved on to other teams. Hammon will be playing in Spain and Douglas will compete in Turkey.
We'll have to watch how the situation in Russia plays out, but without Kalmanovic to pay out big money, things might change dramatically there. Which, in turn, could also impact leagues elsewhere.
Women's Basketball
