By Mel Greenberg
As Jonathan alluded, the Guru was covering the Rutgers-Temple game for print the story is over at Philly.com, so it is only now in the wee hours prior to sunrise that we're catching up with the news of the end of the Houston Comets.
Also, we're in a bit of a rush while offering some quick notes here and downloading some Phillies post-season games via iTunes. The reason is the Guru promised young Valeria, the cashier at the Guru's late-nite diner, he would bring a paper.
No, she's not gasping to read the Guru's work. Though her height would indicate otherwise, she has no association with the sport of our focus here when we're not discussing Elena DelleDonne and volleyball.
But newly arrived from Romania, Valeria has discovered the American female fondness of shopping and so she delights in yanking the advertising sales in the front sections of the paper from the Guru's hands.
. She is also upset at the Guru's continuous refusal to reject her daily suggestions to try the almond pastry from the bakery section.
Also, the Guru is heading up to suburban Trenton Tuesday morning for another NCAA regional promotional event -- this one at which Theresa Grentz, the former Rutgers-Illinois-St. Joseph's coach and Immaculata star center will speak.
So diversions aside, the first thing the Guru did when catching up to the news off of Jonathan's flash to the blackberry during the Temple game, is look at the Houston roster of available bodies when the dispersal draft is held Dec. 8.
Incidentally, the Guru will try to catch up with Van Chancellor, the former longtime Comets coach now at LSU, for some reaction. By the time a connection is made, the Guru is certain he won't be at the front of the line.
Atlanta has the first pick, so the guess is since Tina Thompson is a free agent, with the ability to make her own deal, the Dream will go for Michelle Snow. Washington has the second pick -- what a holiday present for our friends over D.C. Basketcases, if the the Mystics go for former Rutgers star Matee Ajavon..
But if not, then Chicago is on the clock.
Ajavon, who had a sensational debut last summer, if available could be taken by Phoenix, which has either the fourth or fifth pick. If that occurs, she would then reunite with her former Rutgers teammate Cappie Pondexter.
The other thought was could Matee and Essence Carson reunite again in New York, fulfilling an original wish to land both players when Liberty coach Patty Coyle was scouting Rutgers talent for the draft.
It looks as if Ajavon would be gone by the time New York gets a choice, but maybe she will land with a team that the Liberty might be able to discuss trade.
Unfortunately, one person out of a job is coach Karleen Thompson, but she can be expected to land somewhere off the work she did with the Los Angeles Sparks, as well as using mirrors at times to keep Houston competitive.
Stay tuned.
Temple-Rutgers Aftermath
In case the Guru's friends to the north are wondering why no quotes from C. Vivian Stringer in the print story, well, it was taking a while to wait for the Hall of Fame coach to say a thing or two to her team, or maybe three or four, and with deadline approaching and Temple being the emphasis because of location, it became time to hit the keyboard.
Temple now has an opportunity to go on a run straight to the Duke game, which would make Florida State and Villanova on the victims list if achieved. That would actually put the Owls in better shape in terms of the long range when January arrives than has been the case in the past when the team had more to show in computer points than wins before the Atlantic Ten portion of the schedule began.
Some AP Poll Trivia
Having just finished updating the all-time database with the latest AP poll rankings, here are some worthy notes for those of you who take an interest or those of you in SID-land find them useful for your own game notes.
In terms of all-time ranking appearances, Stanford has moved ahead of Penn State into fifth place with 345 appearances. The first four are: Tennessee (546 -- missing only 14 weeks), Louisiana Tech (447), Georgia (431) and Texas (411).
Connecticut can move ahead of Tennessee for most No. 1 appearances, a statistic the Huskies have taken in the past from the Vols, by remaining at the top for the next four weeks.
Texas A&M reached its first-ever Top Five appearance, moving to No. 5.
Rutgers moved past LSU into eighth place with 321 appearances and are only five appearances from moving past North Carolina State, which doesn't seem likely to return to the list in the next month.
Tennessee now has 499 appearances in the Top 10 to be the industry leader.
North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell has moved into a 15th place tie with retired coach Marsha Sharp, who was at Texas Tech, with 264 appearances. Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer, collecting numbers at three different schools, has reached 380 appearances, third on the active list and fourth on the all-time list. Retired Texas coach Jody Conradt, just in front, has 395.
North Carolina has tied for 10th with Long Beach State for most Top 10 appearances at 166.
Virginia coach Debbie Ryan has 299 appearances and Ohio State's Jim Foster has 298.
Connecticut's Geno Auriemma moved into a tie for sixth with former Penn State coach Rene Portland for most appearances at the same school -- 314.
Vanderbilt and Virginia have reached 299 appearances.
Ok. Time to go. We'll be back more Tuesday night.
-- Mel
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