WASHINGTON -- Her team just blew a double-digit lead and lost again, which makes it four losses now to go with those two wins. So as she sits her in locker room, it would be understandable if Alana Beard began to cry. Or scream. Or try to click her Nikes and ask to be sent back to Duke.
Life has changed just a bit for Beard since fans watched her college career come to an end on a court in Norfolk, Va., one foggy night several months ago.
Beard is now a professional basketball player in the WNBA, playing for the Washington Mystics.
Graduation broke the old Duke crew up: Iciss Tillis is playing for Detroit and Vicki Krapohl is out of basketball.
There's no more Blue Devil cheering alongside the Cameron Crazies. They've been replaced by 12,000 fans in the MCI Center (the Mystics have the best attendance in the league) and a mascot named Charm, who looks like the Cat in the Hat after a mix-up with the blue-colored Gatorade.
And then there's the difference between pro ball and college. It's a big gap, somewhere between a chasm and a gulf. The WNBA may receive criticism, especially from men, but the league's commercials aren't kidding--these girls really can play. Compared to college, every player seems bigger, faster, stronger. Even Alana, whose athleticism seemed to float around the opposition at Duke, gets bogged down in the professional trenches.
Yes, life definitely is different for Beard these days. And the crazy thing is that, on the court, she's kind of struggling.
Paltry production
The Mystics are a quarter of the way through their season. They are on pace to finish at 12-20, which would be an improvement over last year. The team beats the defending champs, Detroit, one night and blow a big lead the next game.
The jury's still out on Beard. There's no doubt that she's every bit as good as she's touted to be. Against Connecticut June 9, Beard went through a stretch in the first half where she made scoring look easy. Then she disappeared after halftime, not making another bucket--and the team blew its big lead.
"I was a little pissed," Beard said. "We just got to get that chemistry, discipline.... It's only what we do in practice."
Statistically, Beard's second-best on the team in most categories. Her biggest weakness in college, shooting the outside jumper, jumped with her into the pros. Her shooting percentage (.289) is last among rookies.
Worried that she wasn't getting involved enough in the offense, Mystics head coach Michael Adams switched her to point guard. The move has helped. Ballhandling is the new problem. Beard's turnovers per game are second-worst among rookies, but at least she's tied with--guess who--Diana Taurasi.
Beard's WNBA stat line per game is: 29.8 minutes, 8.8 points, 2.1 assists, 1.88 steals, 2.63 turnovers, .133 percent three-point shooting and a .289 field-goal percentage. During her senior year at Duke, Beard averaged almost 20 points a game, tallied 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists and shot 49.6 percent from the field.
"It's totally different from college," Beard said. "I think I've got to learn not to think. It's different. I'm still there on the college level. Everyone is good. Can't attack just one person. It's a lot frustrating. It's the most I've lost... in a long time."
Feeling the heat
Like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the WNBA has a lot riding on the dynamic duo Beard and Tarausi are meant to become.
The pairing makes sense. The two were college rivals: Tarausi winning NCAA titles for the established Connecticut Huskies, Beard trying to give relative newcomer Duke its first championship. Tarausi was picked first in the draft, Beard second. Both are already household names. The league has plastered their names on media guides and billboards everywhere.
So there's the WNBA pressure, expecting the two to skyrocket the league to whole new levels of ratings, revenue and athletic glory.
And then there's the Washington Mystics. No one--not anyone realistic--expected the Mystics to win the championship this year. The team's record last year was 9-25, second-worst in the league.
But the Mystics have some solid veterans and one of top players around, Chamique Holdsclaw. Thankfully for Beard, the Mystics are Holdsclaw's team, so the rookie isn't being asked to lead them on the court.
No, but the organization has put her smiling face all over the place doing all sorts of stuff.
So there's the franchise pressure, hoping she'll lead the team out of the cellar.
"Just got to go out and play," teammate Page Murriel said. "She can't worry about what her critics say. We're playing."
Kind of makes the memory of college that much sweeter.
"I miss it," Beard said about Duke. "This is the road God has chosen for me. That chapter of my life is over, closed. It's all going to benefit me in the end."
What lies ahead
There's little question that Beard is going to be great. It's just a question of how soon.
There was a reason she went No. 2 in the draft and was college player of the year last season. It doesn't help that Tarausi is having an easy transition. And the pressure is huge, of course--although a majority of it comes from within.
One of the more interesting facets of the whole experience is that Beard and Tarusi's early experiences will be more looked at than any female athletes before them.
But as far as the on-the-court matters go, Beard will be fine.
"Alana's great, already one of the top players," said Murriel. "Everyone wants to see her play well. She does what she's supposed to do. What more can you ask for?"
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