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December 1, 2009

Coale, Sooners have choices

It's hard to exaggerate how much the hopes and dreams of Oklahoma women's basketball have been crushed by Whitney Hand's season's end.

Dreams never die, perhaps, but one's ability to believe in their possibility comes and goes and the Sooner women's just went.

If Hand isn't the best player on the team, she's 1-A alongside Danielle Robinson, and for a team talking up a return to the Final Four, it went without saying Hand would lead OU in the scorebook every bit as much as her captain's role demanded she lead in the locker room.

Remember, it was only she coach Sherri Coale approached with not so much a request as a demand:

Don't pass up an open shot.

Ever.

That's the player the Sooners have lost.

She's the one Bob Knight fell in love with the evening he provided ESPN courtside color, the night Hand made Tennessee pay and pay and pay. She's the one you know has a 40-point night in her because one of these days she just won't miss.

She's gone, at least until next season.

OU's not going back to the Final Four. Now, even a first-round bye at the Big 12 Tournament will be quite the accomplishment.

But all's not lost.

If OU returns to the Final Four in 2011, what happens the rest of this season will be a huge part of the reason why. And, already a pretty easy team to root for, it's even easier now. Because that's what happens when you play David against so many Goliaths and Tennessee, Baylor, Texas A--M, Texas and Connecticut remain on the slate.

First, though, Sherri Coale has a decision to make.

Her coach's dream 10-player roster just became a nine-player coach's nightmare, one of them Lauren Willis, who remains a great story, but also one who arrived in Norman a walk-on.

Forget about what happens if somebody else goes down and consider the coach's predicament. Who's going to replace Hand in the lineup?

Here's a thought.

Only 10 players to choose from, OU had real depth at one position. With one player patrolling the paint, the position Abi Olajuwon occupies from the tip, the Sooners have continued to begin each game with two players backing her up in freshmen posts Joanna McFarland and Lyndsey Cloman.

But with nine players, one spot can't claim three players. Coale could do the Sooners' sea legs a real favor by giving many of Hand's minutes to McFarland, just not her position. It's not like the rest of the roster doesn't know the basics of playing around two big girls in the middle.

Remember Courtney and Ashley?

Carlee Roethlisberger just became a much bigger part of a team already counting on her plenty. Her minutes will head North, but maybe she can still play them off the bench.

Jasmine Hartman may be a fine back-up point, but asking her to be an effective sixth man may be a bridge too far.

Whatever Coale chooses, all that running up and down the court this team was going to do ... is even more necessary.

Stealing a few easy baskets could mean everything to the Sooners and nobody ever stole a thing walking it up the court.

To make the most of Hand's departure, OU may have to get bigger and faster. It's not supposed to work that way.

It's the hand that's been dealt.

Clay Horning 366-3526 cfhorning@normantranscript.com

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