Imagine how it feels when you’re running a high fever — that hot-then-cold feeling when the world spins, your head aches and your muscles feel empty.
Now, imagine that you’re holding an antidote. “Take one swig,” the bottle reads, “and that sickly feeling will melt away.”
There’s just one problem. You can’t pop the lid off the darn bottle.
After four straight losses, it’s obvious that the Oregon women’s basketball team isn’t in good health right now, mentally or physically.
Three of the Ducks’ five seniors sustained injuries. Heads must be aching, as inexperienced players are not dealing well with more playing time. From what’s transpired on the court this season, “disorientation” could be another symptom of Oregon’s illness.
No doubt, the Ducks’ stomachs must still be doing somersaults. That roller-coaster drop from first to sixth in the Pacific-10 Conference would make my insides churn.
But, even if it’s no longer ranked in the top-25 polls, you keep watching this Oregon team. Perhaps you’re feeling sick too, because you see the seams fraying, and you can almost feel the pain the Ducks endure with each loss.
And you’re frustrated, very frustrated, because you know that a possible antidote is oh-so-close.
She’s sitting right there during home games, on the left side of the bench, decked out in trendy street clothes. And when the Ducks are looking for that late push to topple Southern California in the fourth quarter, you are waiting for her to jump out of her seat, whirl around a few times, and suddenly be donning a gleaming-white Oregon uniform — complete with black high-tops, wristbands and a headband, of course — and you want her to save the day.
There’s just one problem. She can’t.
“I wouldn’t risk a year of eligibility for that,” junior point guard Shaquala Williams said, brushing aside the possibility of a late-season return. “I think my future right now is more important than trying to save the season.”
Williams says she is about “80 percent” healthy from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that she suffered in September. She claims she can run and cut as fast as she ever could, but that she can’t jump as high. She plans on testing her knee in contact drills “definitely next month.”
Which means that if she really wanted to, and if her coaches let her, Williams could be ready to play by NCAA Tournament time.
If she could play right now, Shaq’s presence would be felt in every aspect of Oregon’s game. With the extra guard in the lineup, forwards Lindsey Dion and Brianne Meharry could return to their natural positions. The post would get deeper. Her dribble penetration and offensive creativity would open up scoring options everywhere.
And Shaquala Williams has confidence. No current Pac-10 guard can touch her, and she knows it.
If Shaq came in pill form, she’d be just what the doctor ordered for the slumping Oregon women.
Unfortunately, there will be no late-season comeback. Williams said she doesn’t want to play at less than full throttle, and her coaches want her healthy and ready for next season.
So you continue to follow your beloved Ducks, and you can’t help but sigh because you know that this should never have happened. Any of it. And you wonder if your Ducks will even make the Big Dance this season, and that sickly feeling begins to burn again in your chest.
But then, the antidote speaks:
“They have seven games left, and they have to get their confidence back up,” Williams said. “All they need is maybe one or two good games, and they’ll be able to get their confidence back up.”
Maybe the real cure has yet to be found.