The Seoul Games / Day 3 : Women’s Basketball : U.S. Gets a Workout in Win Over Czechs

The U.S. women’s debut in basketball competition was everything you could ask for. It was taut, it was a true test, it was close enough that NBC showed a lot more of it than the two minutes of the men’s slaughter of Spain the day before . . .

It was everything you could ask for, unless you’re Coach Kay Yow.

“Some people say a game like that is a good opener,” Yow said Monday after the United States rallied from a 39-37 halftime deficit and outlasted Czechoslovakia, 87-81.

“For me, I would have liked to win by 40, like the men did. They said we stayed on (TV) in the States for a long time. I would rather the States had only seen us for a few minutes.”

Was this a preview of struggles to come?

The U.S. men have already demonstrated that they are clearly the best team here.

The U.S. women? They’re supposed to scorch opponents with superior speed and defensive pressure, but they didn’t look much quicker than the Czechs Sunday.

The Czechs rank fourth in the world behind the United States, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia--but a smooth little point guard named Eva Kaluzakova laughed at the U.S. pressure all day, and a sharp-looking forward named Ivana Novakova dropped 21 points on them.

Did they consider the United States the quickest team here?

Hardly.

“The Koreans and the Chinese teams are the same,” Novakova said. “And some other teams are as quick as the American team.”

But the U.S. team has two aces. One is Katrina McClain, the 6-foot 2-inch post-up whiz from Georgia who is all but unstoppable if she gets the ball anywhere near the basket. The other is Teresa Edwards of Georgia, the great-player-if-you-need-one at shooting guard.

Edwards contented herself with playmaking as the Americans strolled to a 22-14 lead, then dug in when Czechoslovakia came storming back.

When the Czechs went 10-0 and grabbed a 30-24 lead, Edwards went to the hoop and was fouled, and she made the first free throw. She missed the second but knocked the rebound loose, then whipped a behind-the-back pass to McClain for a layup. An American rally ensued.

Edwards wound up with a game-high 24 points, surprising no one.

“She’s just amazing,” said teammate Andrea Lloyd, referring to the way Edwards takes over close games.

“We’re sitting on the bench, saying, ‘That’s amazing.’ ”

Said Edwards: “I’m a very competitive person. I love to play in tough games. It brings the best out of you.

“It’s nothing I really think about. It’s just something that happens, which I like very much.”

Why did the U.S. team need saving? Where was that fabled quickness?

“I thought from the bench, our quickness didn’t show up,” said Yow. “Full-court or half-court.

“One thing about Czechoslovakia, they’re such a big team, they threw it over the top of us a lot. They’re so much taller and bigger this way (wider).”

So Yow had a problem: Did she play her taller players to stop the lobbing, or her quicker ones to apply more pressure?

Also, how do you press when your two most experienced point guards--Kamie Ethridge and Suzie McConnell--are a clear step slower than backup Teresa Weatherspoon?

It’s a problem Yow can work on again. The Yugoslavs and Soviets are taller than the Czechs.

If it doesn’t work out, turn on your TVs. The women will be back on the air soon.