The Art of a Blocked Shot

Imagine coming to Guilford College as a freshman to play on the women’s basketball team.

When first-year athletes join a college athletic team, the transition takes time. The student needs to learn the coach’s complicated schemes, gel with new teammates, and get acclimated to the increased pace and physicality of college sports.

Usually, this translates into first-years sitting the bench and playing junior varsity to hone their skills. This builds confidence and also provides experience before tasting Division III competition at its finest. Every once in a while, however, a first-year really impresses the coaching staff and team wins a varsity team spot with talent and determination.

This year however, Guilford has turned this logic on its head. On the current roster, the Quakers have five first-years who play on a regular basis. 

Forward Gabby Oglesby is a first-year gem. Not only does she have a spot on the team, she has played in all of the Quakers’ 22 games this year. At the season’s midpoint, she worked her way into the starting lineup. “The pace of the game is fast, you have to bring it every game, you have to play your best game every night,” said Oglesby.

More importantly, she is a focal point and impact player for the team on both sides of the ball this season. “Gabby's strengths are her ability to coach and heart,” said head women’s basketball coach Stephanie Flamini. “If she sets her mind to something, she gets it done.”

Offensively, Oglesby is averaging just under 11 points and seven rebounds through her first 23 games. Her consistent scoring ranks third on the team and her rebounds are first on the list. Being a reliable scoring option has helped the Quakers find their identity in 2011.

While her offensive numbers are more than respectable, it’s her defensive play that has made headlines. Defense is hardly talked about in sports because it is not the glamorous, high-flying action part of the game.

Yet, Oglesby is making shot blocking an art form. “The keys to shot blocking are being tall and having a long arm length. She (Gabby) keeps her arms straight up so she doesn't get a foul called and then just takes away the shot,” said Flamini.

At the close of the season, Oglesby has a new school-record 58 blocked shots this season, which ranks second in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and 43^rd in NCAA Division III. She rejects almost three shots a game, which could equate to six points removed from the opponent. “You can’t try to block a shot or else you foul,” said Oglesby. “It’s a determination thing. You have to mentally say she is not going to get the shot off.”

Gabby attributes her shot blocking success to her work off the court. “I like to watch a lot of film to break down my opponent,” said Oglesby. “When I’m on the court I like to keep in mind their tendencies.”

Oglesby notes the importance of maintaining the proper defensive position, which allows her to keep pace with her opponents and get around screens. Defensive positioning sets up her shot- blocking ability in the post. “She gets into defensive position so well because she is making the opponent work hard and not giving good position up to the offensive player,” said Flamini.

I then asked Gabby for the fast-track guide to shot blocking. She gave me three important tips to remember. Number one, know your opponent. Take the time to do your film study to find out tendencies. Number two, set up your body position. Don’t stand straight up, get low in your defensive stance. Number three, don’t swat. Swatting always leads to fouls. Be in control as you go up for the block.

“Coming out of my defensive stance, I go up with my right hand to create separation with the shooter. Next, I put up my left hand towards the shooter’s face and ball to not create contact. Then instinct kicks in and I block the shot,” said Oglesby.

Heading into the ODAC tournament this Thursday Oglesby’s opponents will be looking to score early and often, if they can get the shot off first.

Improvement is Success

Unfortunately, Guilford’s women's swim team and the Guilford Buzz do not get a lot of attention from students. I was probably one of the few that were shocked when I saw the Buzz message in January that read: Guilford College Women’s Swim Team is looking for swimmers. 

Membership has been an issue for the swim team this season. At the start of the year, the team had around 14 committed swimmers. Presently, the team has only 11 swimmers on the active roster going into the ODAC Tournament this past weekend. 

For the swim team, success is viewed differently than wins and losses. “We just go out and try to do our best each meet,” said senior co-captain Sara Waitsman. The team isn’t concerned with winning, but the improvement and development of its swimmer’s throughout the season.

This theme is echoed by head coach Steve Kaczmarek. He has said that performing well in meets is not about accumulating points or getting first place, it’s about the team enjoying swimming. “The main goal is to keep improving and drop times,” said senior co-captain Daphne Murphy.

The Quakers have hope though. They defeated Emory and Henry earlier this year for their second win so far in the 2010-2011 campaign.

The swim team lost to Greensboro, 107-76, in the tune up before the ODAC tournament but the score didn’t tell the whole story. The Quakers were competitive throughout the entire meet. All the Guilford swimmers had a chance to win every race. For someone who has never attended a swim meet before, I was impressed.

As a first-time spectator, I was surprised how much energy was packed into the pool. “I think one of our biggest strengths is that we're all pretty close and that helps during meets because we all support each other in our races,” said Kim Abbott. The crowd comprised mostly of Greensboro College students, but there was also some of the Guilford faithful attending.

 In most races, the Guilford swimmers placed in second or third, with a few occasional first-place victories. Murphy was dazzling to watch in the water. She was a shark.

After watching the meet, I think I know why these girls swim. It’s simply the competitive fire that fuels every single athlete. It’s the rush of the adrenaline that kicks in right before you have to perform. It’s showing the world all the hard work and time spent on honing your skills behind closed doors. It’s about pride.

Waitsman believes pride and improvement go hand in hand with swimming. “You may not be able to tell based on the points we earned at each meet but, if you look at people's individual times, everyone has improved.”

Guilford certainly had it against Greensboro. They were in a huddle to begin the meet trying to pump each other up. From them on, it was non-stop cheering, screaming, and swimming. Every single race, every single team member pulled for their teammates to win the race. I never expected a swim meet to be so loud.

Most of the time, other teammates outside of the pool would run alongside the swimmer and give her special hand signals, presumably to let her know how she was doing. Kaczmarek was quiet on the sidelines and let his team do the talking. He would only give advice and talk to his team during the breaks of the meet, when I saw him pointing fingers and waving his arms around.

            Although the Quakers did not pull out the victory, there was not questioning their determination. They came to do their best and to improve their times.  

            The swim team took their determination to Christansburg, Va., to compete in the ODAC Atlantic States Championships this past weekend. The Quakers did not win any races, but most of them swam their best times of the season, and some even topped their career best times.

            When I asked Murphy what a successful showing at the tournament would be, she said, “If we all dropped our time and left the pool knowing we gave it our all.”

            For this year’s team, that’s what Guilford swimming is all about.