Your future, our focus
In the basketball world the greatest coaching cliche of them all is “You can’t coach height.”
But you can recruit it and Northwest College women’s coach Janis Beal, a one-time guard, did bring in some new players for this season who tower over her.
Most of the known world of junior college basketball is filled with players who have to crane their necks to cover the tallest Lady Trappers.
Not only is 6-foot-4 center Julynne Silva, a freshman from Barcarena, Brazil, an old-style, low-post player, but she is joined by Dallas Petties, a lithe six-footer from Aurora, Colo., just outside Denver, a more maneuverable inside player.
And when the right matchups come along and Beal can play them both at once, look out.
“I like to play down low,” Petties said. “But she’s (Julynne) so strong. “
The optimum time shared on the court for the two “bigs” occurred in a recent home game against Bismarck College of North Dakota.
The powerfully built Silva dominated near the basket and Petties roamed the lane a little bit farther out.
“It made it very difficult for them,” Petties said. “It’s hard to cover two of us.”
There is a fairly lengthy history at the top levels of pro basketball, especially on the men’s side, of the right combination of big players being brutal for opponents to defend.
The Boston Celtics of the 1980s started Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, three Hall of Famers, which may have been the ultimate frontcourt Rubik’s Cube for foes to solve.
The Houston Rockets featured the duo nicknamed the Twin Towers in Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
It’s a little early to boast that loudly about Petties and Silva, but Silva pumped in 13 points and collected 7 rebounds in 14 minutes of floor time against Bismarck while Petties scored 9 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
That’s a pretty effective double whammy.
In their game against Eastern Wyoming Silva contributed 19 points and made nine of her 11 shots.
You’re not going to catch Silva shooting jumpers from 20 feet, but when she is near the hoop she can be deadly.
Silva said when she gets into the game and a much smaller player tries to guard her, she likes her odds.
“We have to enjoy those opportunities,” Silva said. “If we have a chance to play smaller people we have to take advantage of it.”
Silva doesn’t have a huge amount of game experience and Beal said one Trapper teaching effort is focused on using her size.
“We’ve been really working with her on getting in position in there and holding it,” Beal said.
In the long run, Beal believes Northwest will benefit from more and more Silva and Petties pairings.
“I think it definitely gives us a one-two punch,” Beal said. “Most teams only have one post player.”
(Lew Freedman can be reached at lew@codyenterprise.com.)