|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To the PointBaylor's only senior makes her mark this season
By Jerry Hill
 Baylor
point guard Angela Tisdale has walked in Kim Mulkey's shoes. Tutored by
a coach that played her position as a two-time national champion at
Louisiana Tech and gold medalist in the Olympics, Tisdale earned
first-team all-Big 12 honors this year as a senior, averaging 16 points
and 3.2 assists per game, and was named a Wooden Award finalist.
"She's going to stay on you and stay on you," Tisdale said of Mulkey. A
senior from Austin's Del Valle High School who set the school record
for career assists, Tisdale added, "My sophomore and junior years were
tough, because I was going through a slump here and there and never
really put a stretch of games together. But now I've finally gotten
used to it, and she's not fussing at me as much anymore."
Now Tisdale wants to follow Mulkey's footsteps to the sidelines. A
general studies major who will graduate in May, Tisdale plans to become
a coach once her playing days are over. So while other students might
pick up job training in a book or the classroom, Tisdale's been taught
by one of the top coaches in the country.
"I'm sure I will take a lot of the things that I've seen from her,"
Tisdale said. "Just like she did with her coaches. But then there are
other things that she's done that I won't do."
One of the things that Mulkey has done is to push Tisdale to become
more of a vocal leader. In high school, Del Valle coach Tawni Angel
said getting Tisdale to be more vocal on the court was "like pulling
teeth."
"That was probably the thing that I preached to her every day," Mulkey
said. "Open your mouth. You have to be vocal. You have no choice. It's
part of the position you play."
But it's just not her nature. More of a shooting guard on her summer
AAU team, Tisdale moved kicking and screaming out of her comfort zone
and into the point guard position in high school.
And if the TV cameras are rolling, forget it. When she had to do media
interviews as a freshman during Baylor's 2005 national championship
run, Tisdale would freeze up like a deer caught in the headlights. Even
now, after taking speech classes, she said, "my stomach gets all in
knots, and I don't know what to say."
On the basketball court, though, she looks as comfortable as, well, a
deer in the woods. Whether she's leading a fast break or knocking down
another three-pointer, Tisdale looks at home.
"It's just so valuable to have a young lady that leads your basketball
team out there and never gets rattled," Mulkey said. "Even when she's
not playing that well, she never shows a dejected emotion. She just
keeps plugging away."
Without a proven go-to player this year, Baylor has more often than not
turned to its only senior. Tisdale went 0-for-10 from beyond the arc
before nailing a three-pointer with 38 seconds left in a 59-56 win over
Texas A&M. She hit a trey from the same spot with 19.4 seconds left
to defeat Texas, 61-60, and scored 35 points in an 84-73 win at
Oklahoma.
"You just make sure your senior's got the ball in her hands," Mulkey said.
A tireless worker, Tisdale focused on improving her defense during the
off-season. And it's shown on the court. Her harassing defense forced
Oklahoma guard Jenna Plumley into a dismal 1-for-6 performance, and she
held Missouri guard Alyssa Hollins scoreless for the first nineteen
minutes of a game at Columbia.
"I love it when I get under people's skin and they start talking back," she said. "That's when you know you're doing your job."
Tisdale hopes to put her coaching career on hold while pursuing a shot
at the WNBA. Before the season, she was ranked as one of the top twenty
senior prospects in the country by Carolyn Jenkins, a former Minnesota
Lynx assistant coach and now director of player personnel for the WNBA.
"What Tissy has done is position herself to be drafted," Mulkey said,
"because the kid has an unbelievable work ethic. She works as hard as
any player I've ever coached. And it's not just the hours we're on the
floor. It's what she does on her own."
|
|
|
