I think that I have probably gone to about 98% of the home basketball games since my time here at Union. I have watched the Lady Bulldogs for years and yet they never cease to amaze me. Each year they dominate with their endurance and versatility on the court.
No one quite knows the ins and outs of the game like these players. Especially a player like Macey Lee, a junior cell and molecular biology major and guard/forward on the Union women’s basketball team.
Lee has been playing basketball practically since birth, and there is evidence of that in how she plays. Watching Lee play basketball is like watching Jimi Hendrix shred on guitar, as if doing what she was made to do. Lee is not just a force on the court but also an absolute joy off.
On Feb. 17, I had the privilege of watching the Union Bulldog’s men’s basketball team at the Fred Delay Gym against Montevallo with Macey Lee.
“[Montevallo] is one spot below us so this should be a really good game,” Lee said, “but we really need to win this if we want to be in the tournament.”
From the very start, you could feel the tension on the court. Right off the bat, she began sizing up, pointing out how we had a major height advantage over Montevallo. She began explaining to me all of the possible strategies we could use.
“32 can’t get into foul trouble because Montevallo doesn’t have anyone else to go in for him,” Lee said “You can see that now, [Union] is gonna try to double up and force him to pass it out.”
Without 32 in the game, we would have a dominating presence on the court making our defense unforgiving. Sadly, this commentary was brutally interrupted by a three point sniper shot from Montevallo.
“I’d assume since their team is kinda small that they will have a lot of shooters, that would be my guess,” Lee said.
This observation showed to be a very true reality. Montevallo’s strength and majority of points came from their ability to shoot rather than their presence in the paint. Lee took note of this and elaborated on how our players can force Montevallo to play in their weakness and strip them of their shooting advantage.
“So for instance they will try to make [Montevallo] drive because they are gonna have to shoot over Parker and Jeremiah,” Lee said. “They will also match up players… There is a lot of strategy that goes into play.
This strategy, defensively speaking, was keeping the scorers at bay. Because of this, it was a low-scoring game. By the second half, both teams had only scored about 35 points each. The pressure began to reach the court and it was obvious the players could feel it, no thanks to the chronic back seat driving echoing from the student section.
“Look at the skip!” Lee yelled, “When you’re coming back down the court, [Montevallo] is coming at you so fast, you can’t shift gears that fast — in position they were in zone, and the quickest way to de-zone is quick passes and not dribbling as much.”
A key player in this is Devaki Garr, a freshman business major point guard, who demonstrated his skilled ball-handling skills and intense speed throughout the game. I would assume it could become easy for a talented player like Lee to become a harsher critic of another player’s game, however, she was swift to praise his performance, recognizing his raw athleticism.
“Wow, he is so fast! There is no way he didn’t run track,” Lee said with a chuckle of astonishment. “Whenever someone is hot and shooting really well that night they do a good job at finding them the ball.”
As we talked more about the game, we both had to pause for a laugh, knowing we could not be heard over the fans berating the refs. Although a little humorous, Lee acknowledged the impact that the energy from the stands actually has on a player.
“I would say for a home game it’s a big plus, It actually makes a difference when people are here,” Lee said. “You can hear the energy in the room and it feeds on to you — if there is high energy or low energy you can see that reflected in how we play.”
Despite Union’s tenacity on the court, their fire seemed to dissipate once they reached the paint. As soon as they would take a shot, they immediately began making their way down the court leaving the rebound game something to be desired. Rebounding is an essential practice, which the girls’ team emphasizes, but it was rare to see in this game.
“We don’t run plays, it’s just action. We’ve all played basketball our whole lives, we know how to read the defense. It’s just a different style of play. We have a lot of freedom. Coach Campbell always says it’s better to be basketball players and not robots,” Lee said. “ This is more like old school basketball, what the boys do. They run a lot of set plays which are also very easily scouted but they have to run [the play] through — they have the skill, but it limits them when they have to follow a certain play instead of reading the defense”
Lee’s insight brought a new life to the world of basketball. Although I am no newbie to watching sports, getting to watch the game with Lee brought a new appreciation to the game. There are aspects of the game that you miss when you haven’t spent your whole life eating, sleeping and breathing strategies and plays. Watching basketball through this new perspective has given me a deeper respect for the game and the players, especially ones as special as Macey Lee.
