Sit and win or start and lose?
A pair of former Union County girls are on opposite ends of the Gulf South Conference, playing very different roles for their respective teams.
Julie Smith, who is coming off knee surgery, sees limited minutes at Arkansas Tech. Smith has been used mainly as a shooter off the bench and she leads the conference at 59.3 percent from 3-point range. The Golden Suns, by the way, are 16-2, tied for first in the West Division and ranked 24th in the nation.
Maranda Parker, a true freshman, has started 12 of Ouachita Baptist's 17 games. She's averaging 27.1 minutes per game and putting 5.7 points and 3.2 boards while playing guard. The Lady Tigers, however, are languishing near the bottom of the league. They beat SAU on Saturday to improve to 1-4 in league play. SAU, which includes Ellana White, is 0-3.
I asked Parker and Smith to compare their positions. Here's the question:
Would you rather get just a couple of minutes on a first place team or start for a last place team?
"Why can't I play minutes on a team that at least goes .500?" asked Parker. "Well right now, I'm doing the last one which I still like because I never thought I would be starting as a freshman. yet I want our team to do well. I don't want to lose all the time. so really neither situation is any fun. because yeah, I would enjoy celebrating with my teammates and stuff after a big victory; it still wouldn't feel the same because I didn't play a major part in it. And, losing all the time just gets more and more frustrating and the team gets discouraged more after a loss. I guess I would rather play more than anything and at least fight for my team."
"Thanks for asking hard questions," said Smith. "I believe either situation would be a little upsetting. Winning is great, but I still get disappointed when I don't get to play as much as I want. On the other hand, I hate losing. I've played on winning teams my whole life, and as much as I want to say it doesn't mean that much, I can't. Don't get me wrong, I want to play as many minutes as I can, but I can learn a different role if need be so my team can be successful. I have been able to go to Florida twice. The last trip was for the NCAA Regional Tournament. Even though I did not get to play because of my injury, it was still a great experience. I hope I can be apart of it again this year. All in all, I have really enjoyed my experience with the Golden Suns, and I am glad I've had the opportunity to be on a winning team."
Julie Smith, who is coming off knee surgery, sees limited minutes at Arkansas Tech. Smith has been used mainly as a shooter off the bench and she leads the conference at 59.3 percent from 3-point range. The Golden Suns, by the way, are 16-2, tied for first in the West Division and ranked 24th in the nation.
Maranda Parker, a true freshman, has started 12 of Ouachita Baptist's 17 games. She's averaging 27.1 minutes per game and putting 5.7 points and 3.2 boards while playing guard. The Lady Tigers, however, are languishing near the bottom of the league. They beat SAU on Saturday to improve to 1-4 in league play. SAU, which includes Ellana White, is 0-3.
I asked Parker and Smith to compare their positions. Here's the question:
Would you rather get just a couple of minutes on a first place team or start for a last place team?
"Why can't I play minutes on a team that at least goes .500?" asked Parker. "Well right now, I'm doing the last one which I still like because I never thought I would be starting as a freshman. yet I want our team to do well. I don't want to lose all the time. so really neither situation is any fun. because yeah, I would enjoy celebrating with my teammates and stuff after a big victory; it still wouldn't feel the same because I didn't play a major part in it. And, losing all the time just gets more and more frustrating and the team gets discouraged more after a loss. I guess I would rather play more than anything and at least fight for my team."
"Thanks for asking hard questions," said Smith. "I believe either situation would be a little upsetting. Winning is great, but I still get disappointed when I don't get to play as much as I want. On the other hand, I hate losing. I've played on winning teams my whole life, and as much as I want to say it doesn't mean that much, I can't. Don't get me wrong, I want to play as many minutes as I can, but I can learn a different role if need be so my team can be successful. I have been able to go to Florida twice. The last trip was for the NCAA Regional Tournament. Even though I did not get to play because of my injury, it was still a great experience. I hope I can be apart of it again this year. All in all, I have really enjoyed my experience with the Golden Suns, and I am glad I've had the opportunity to be on a winning team."
posted by Tony at
2:34 PM
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