-The rundown on Lady Card guard Nikki Burton
-Fern Creek Softball sweeps pool play
-Dream drops to 2nd place in WNBA
-Your weekly PANERA winner
For Nikki Burton (pictured to the right)..it's all about whether she's recovered from the hip surgery last month enough to be a factor for Jeff Walz's University of Louisville basketball team. Cardinal fans got to see just enough of her last season to realize that the talented combo guard can be a force and factor in the back court. Unfortunately, like several other of the ladies on last year's team, a season ending injury put her on the shelf. (We understand that her personality
'hipness' is just fine...she's very popular among her teammates.)
Burton played in 18 games for Louisville last year, drawing the starting assignment in 11 of them. She proved to be an aggressive, ball-hawking guard on defense and averaged 5.9 points per game for Louisville....good enough for sixth place in the Cardinals point per game average. Although we really didn't see much out of her from three point range, her game is more centered around transition and driving to the hoop...which fits in well with Jeff Walz's style of basketball.
The big question about her is how she'll come back from her surgeries on her hip. We saw Dez Byrd come back probably too early after her injuries and it basically cost her a season. We're hoping that the same thing doesn't happen with Burton. Fortunately, the UofL squad is deep in guards this year and Walz has the luxury of choosing from healthy players to fill the back court slots.
PROGNOSIS:
Burton has talent...scary good talent when she's able to motor. She can stop and burn opponents with the mid-range jumper and isn't afraid to take it the the hoop if the opportunity presents itself. The question is, when and how effectively will she be able to do this in 2010-11? If ready to go, she'll challenge for a "first off the bench" position and see plenty of court time in the KFC YUM center. Here's hoping she heals well and can show the flashes on a consistent basis that gave UofL fans promise and hope for her career last year.
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Fern Creek's 16 and under girls' softball team knocked off host Varina, VA in pool play yesterday to go 4-0 in pool competition and advance from the National Division to double elimination tournament play next week. They whitewashed Varina 2-0 yesterday, allowing just 3 hits. Fern Creek scored a run in the fifth and sixth to secure the victory.
By winning the division, they draw a first round bye in tournament competition and will play their next game next Monday.
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The Atlanta Dream fell 1/2 game behind Indiana by doing absolutely nothing. They had an off day Sunday but Indiana blew out Phoenix 104-82 to grab the Eastern Conference lead. It's a close race in the East...with New York only 1 game back and Washington 2 games behind Indy.
Things don't get any easier for Angel and the Dream (18-11). They face off against Western Division leader Seattle in Atlanta on Tuesday night. Seattle is a runaway leader in the Western Conference with a 24-4 record and 10 games ahead of Phoenix.
The question is...how can this NOT be the Tuesday ESPN 2 televised game? Instead, the 4 letter network will show Indiana at L.A....and that one doesn't tip off until 10 p.m. L.A. has the second worst record in the league at 10-18...suffering from the injury that sat down Candace Parker for the season. Guess we'll have time to watch both of the NCIS summer reruns Tuesday night before remoting in this one...and it could be a toss up between the WNBA and The Good Wife on CBS Tuesday.
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Congratulations to Barbara Hancock for winning the weekly PANERA gift card contest! WE had a lot of good entries last week but Barbara nailed down the prize with a short but sweet reason why she and her husband choose PANERA.
"We like PANERA BREAD because of the wide variety available there. I especially like the whole grain taste of their breads. It is satisfying."
Couldn't agree more, Barbara! You still have 3 chances to win PANERA gift cards...all you have to do is send us a short e-mail telling us why you choose PANERA. If the Yorkie drags your essay out of the pile that we've downloaded and spread out on the kitchen floor, you're a winner!
(Just kidding...we let an independent panel of judges read and select each week's winner. No, Paula Abdul and Simon aren't the judges.) Send those entries to cardinalcouple@insightbb.com
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