Strong feature on Delaware star Elena Delle Donne in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated (the one with the San Francisco 49ers and Muhammad Ali on the cover). We particularly enjoyed the following passage:
(Delaware coach Tina) Martin has done a deft dance, acknowledging that the team has a clear-cut star but stressing the importance of complementary play; challenging Delle Donne but making sure basketball is "fun for Elena and kept in perspective." While she, too, can be reduced to an awestruck onlooker at times during games, the coach isn't above giving her best player some grief.
During a recent game, Delle Donne shook free of the defense and had a rare open look on a three-pointer. She dished to a teammate, who wasn't expecting a pass. As the ball dribbled out of bounds, Martin bellowed, "Elena Delle Donne, you shoot the ball or your ass is sitting on the bench!"
On Thursday, Delle Donne had a mortal (by her standards) 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting and 8 rebounds in the Blue Hens' 65-46 rout of Towson. In the two games since Delle Donne experienced pain in her left leg, she is averaging 18.5 points on 10-of-26 shooting (38.4 percent). Through her first 14 games, Delle Donne averaged 29.8 points on 57.1 percent shooting. No one, even the great Delle Donne, should be held to that level of performance every night. Still, here's hoping the leg injury hasn't thrown her off her game.
Elena has not looked like her self in the last three games. She scored 40 & 37 then went 23,22,15. Of course she only played 22 minutes and 30 in the last 2 games. We'll see how she does Sunday vs. Drexel which is always a tough game for Delaware.
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