Micaela Cocks needs a nickname. Something along the lines of the Little Engine That Could, the story about a long train that must be pulled over a high mountain, is a good start.
As the story goes, several larger engines are asked to pull the long train, but refuse, until a small engine agrees to try. Relying on an I-think-I-can motto, the small engine succeeds in tugging the long train over the mountain.
The 5-foot-8-inch point guard for the Oregon women’s basketball team climbed the mountain known as Division I basketball last season and pushed starter Tamika Nurse. Cocks left her fingerprints all over the team with her willingness to spend extra time in the gym before and after practice.
“I train everyday and push myself,” Cocks said wrote in an e-mail from New Zealand. “Fitness for me is a must and really when you look at it it’s the easiest thing to get. You do not have to be highly skilled or a super quick athlete you just have to work hard.”
Cocks is back at home in her native New Zealand and playing for the country’s national team, the Tall Ferns. She is helping the team try for a berth in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
“That’s one of the things that I talk to our players about is that playing for your team and playing for the Olympics is the highest honor you can have,” said coach Bev Smith, who added she chose to forgo all but one spring term during her days as a Duck player in favor of training for the Canadian National Team.
Once Oregon’s season ended in a loss at Wyoming, Cocks immediately began workouts for the New Zealand National Team. Cocks averaged 3.4 points and 1.1 assists for Oregon in 15.3 minutes a game. She enjoyed probably her best game at Oregon State with a career-high 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2-of-4 from three-point range.
“I am in great shape so I can handle anything thrown at me,” Cocks said. “If I always stay in good shape then I do not have to worry about in season and out of season. I am always in season.”
She left Eugene in April. She spends her days training and on the computer finishing her assignments. It’s tougher when she’s with the national team as she has to balance basketball and turning assignments in on time. Cocks says she is working on her pull-up jumper and being more assertive.
Cocks has grown accustomed to being home the last two months and home cooking, but says she missed the camaraderie she built with her Oregon teammates.
“I do wish I could be in two places at once, then I could be involved in spring training and the individuals (workouts) the girls are doing,” Cocks said.
The Tall Ferns recently completed a trip to Japan. They played three games against the Japanese team – losing all of them – as they struggled with early deficits. The Tall Ferns were playing together for the first time since the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games final.
They lost the opener 88-71 after falling behind 29-17 after the first quarter. Cocks had 12 points in the game. New Zealand had a 13 point deficit after the first quarter of the second game and lost 64-60. In the third and final game, New Zealand lost 68-62, after trailing 25-13 after the opening quarter.
For New Zealand to make the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Cocks says they need to beat Fiji and gain approval from the New Zealand Olympic Committee. Typically, Cocks says they’d play Australia, also known as the Opals, but since they won the 2006 FIBA World Championship, they’re automatically in.
“I am excited for our team,” Cocks said. “We are very relentless and we have a never give up attitude. From now we can only get better.”
Traveling to Japan was a first for Cocks, who had never seen the country before. She had previously visited Taiwan.
“The first two games were closed to the public and the second game was in a Stadium where the 1964 Olympics were played – the stadium was close to full and very loud,” Cocks said. “The fans screamed the whole game and banged together blown up rubber cheer things.”
Cocks says she’s averaging around 25 minutes a game and coming off the bench as a two guard. Her first season at Oregon made her “much more confident and (I) took more shots when I had my first game in New Zealand.”
The Tall Ferns’ schedule will keep Cocks busy throughout the summer and into the fall. They have a China Tournament June 12-20, Williams Jones Cup in Taiwan July 10-16, Italy Tournament Sept. 12-18 and FIBA Oceania Qualifying Series in Dunedin, New Zealand Sept. 24-30. This along with national team camps sprinkled in between.
Cocks says she’ll arrive back in Eugene and ready to go at the end of September.
Cocks is teammates on the national team with Jessica McCormack, who has committed to join Washington’s women’s basketball team next fall.
“It’s a funny thing because Jess and I are really good friends (we see each other back here in New Zealand at least once a day) and I can’t say we talk much about Pac-10,” Cocks said. “However, we talk do talk about the differences of New Zealand and America.”
The competitive Cocks is one of several Oregon athletes to have represented their country on national teams, including Canadians Carolyn Ganes, Kaela Chapdelaine and Tamika Nurse. Lilley recently traveled to Colorado Springs, Colo. to tryout for the USA U19 National Team.
“It was incredible,” Cocks said of Lilley’s opportunity. “I was so proud and told everyone back here in New Zealand ‘my roomie is trying out for the US age group team.’ I told everyone. It’s highly deserved – no one can shoot three’s like Tay.”
The Oregon players international experiences can only help the Ducks in the future, Cocks said.
“It’s great we are gaining experience that we can bring back to our Oregon team,” she said.
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