STARKVILLE — Ketara Chapel can mix it up in the paint.
But the 6-foot-1 forward knows there is a difference between the level of physicality between forwards her size and centers who are several inches taller and who have significantly more girth to wield against anyone who dares traipse into their lane.
That’s why Chapel can’t help smile when she is asked to describe the battles Chinwe Okorie and Teaira McCowan have had in recent Mississippi State women’s basketball pickup games or workouts.
“It seems like they are going to fight, but they are making each other better,” Chapel said. “Teaira coming in has given Chinwe competition. With Teaira being Chinwe’s size, Chinwe has never played anybody that big, so them going back and forth fighting for that position has been awesome to watch.”
When Chapel says “fighting,” she is referring to the physical nature of their play when it comes to playing on the block and patrolling the paint. She said it has been “fun” to watch Okorie, a 6-foot-5 junior, and McCowan, a 6-7 freshman, go at it.
If Chapel can smile after watching her teammates go at it, imagine how MSU women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer feels inside knowing he has one of the nation’s tallest center combinations. That tandem is part of the reason MSU has received two top-10 preseason rankings — No. 6 from Athlon Sports and No. 8 from Lindy’s. It also is a reason why anticipation is growing for MSU to begin practice next week for the 2015-16 season. Coming off a school-record 27 victories and a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament, MSU appears to have the depth, size, and versatility to compete with South Carolina and Tennessee at the top of the Southeastern Conference.
But how much production will Okorie and McCowan bring to the table, and will they be able to help make up for scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots (see breakout on 1B) lost due to the graduation of All-SEC center Martha Alwal?
“You can’t coach size,” Schaefer said. “(Teaira) is 6-7 with the wingspan of a 7-footer. She takes up a lot of space in there. I did a little drill with them and she checked me coming across the lane and I am glad she did it gently because she has some real strength. She has a great frame. If we are going to compete with the upper echelon in this league, that five position is real important.
“With her and Chinwe at 6-7 and 6-5 and their mobility and ability to run, I think that is really going to give us a chance to be successful and compete.”
Last season, Victoria Vivians led MSU in scoring as a freshman at 14.9 points per game. Alwal was second on the team at 9.5 ppg., while point guard Morgan William (9.1 ppg.) and forward Breanna Richardson (8.4) were third and fourth on the team in scoring. Regardless of the position, Schaefer believes the Bulldogs have the most depth as he prepares for his fourth season in Starkville. In addition to the depth, Schaefer feels MSU has a variety of weapons and has the potential to score at every position. That’s why he isn’t putting a lot of pressure on Okorie, who averaged 3.4 ppg. last season, or McCowan to come in and be a 20-point per game scorer. Instead, he wants them to focus on being shot blockers, shot alterers, rebounders, and defenders.
Okorie, who started 21 games last season, said Schaefer’s comments have made it easier her to focus on the things she needs to do to be a key contributor.
“It makes me know what I am supposed to be working on and what role I have on the team,” Okorie said. “I am beginning to focus more on my roles rather than being everywhere and all over the place.”
Okorie said she has improved her touch around the basket and is doing a better job slowing down and seeing where she needs to place the ball on the backboard to be effective. She said patience will be a key so she can identify the right spot and not be rushed and just throw the ball up at the rim.
Going up against someone as big as McCowan has made Okorie work even harder. She said she played against someone bigger than she is when she was 16. She said the player from Senegal, who was 6-9 and a member of a professional team, was “huge”, “very strong,” and much more experienced.
Okorie has the edge in experience on McCowan, but she said that experience doesn’t help her get a shot off against McCowan’s wingspan.
“It has been fun in a sense I have been alter my shots to add more variety to what I do because she is right up there and she can get every shot blocked,” Okorie said. “We’re both big girls. We’re both strong, and neither one of us wants to show a weak side to the other one. Even though we are teammates, we are competing at the same time to get better. We’re taking advantage of each other because there is nobody in the SEC that is as big as she is.”
McCowan returned the compliment by saying Okorie is “very strong” and that she is like “two of me.” She said she also appreciates the coaches being specific about what role — “keeping guards out of the paint” — she and Okorie will play this season. She believes scoring will come for her and Okorie if they play good defense.
McCowan has taken to having coaches equal guards, which is why she smiled when asked about the workout in which she displaced Schaefer from his route through the paint. She said she used a forearm to push him out of the way and didn’t hurt him. But the way McCowan answered the question led you to believe she could have put a little more emphasis behind her forearm. She just smiled when she was asked that and if she thought she could have hurt Schaefer if she wanted to use all her size to make the paint a “no coach zone.”
“I have to use my strength, but I have to watch how I use it,” McCowan said. “I have to be more physical, but not too physical so I get called for fouls.”
There’s no telling how many fouls get called in MSU’s workouts or pickup games. It’s safe to say, though, Chapel and the rest of the Bulldogs have realized they enter the paint at their own risk if Okorie or McCowan is on watch. That realization gives Chapel plenty of comfort and reason to smile because she knows a center will have her back defensively to block a shot and to make opponents think twice about going into the lane.
“You should see them go at it at pickup and at practice. It is awesome,” Chapel said. “We really don’t need them to score, maybe just get some putbacks and finish. We need them to be on defense, to block shots, and rebounding is our biggest thing for them, just helping us out on defense and having that big presence in the paint. People are going to be scared to go in there.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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