In Kill Bill, Vol. 2 Bill sends Beatrix (Uma Thurman) to train with Pai Mei to develop her toughness and skill in the martial arts so that she can round out the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad as the Black Mamba.
The Mississippi State women’s basketball team has no Pai Mei and they did not need to become assassins to improve on last year’s results, but head coach Sharon Fanning wanted to improve her team’s toughness.
She and coordinator of women’s basketball operations Stephanie Siler formed a non-deadly basketball practice squad of male students.
“Stephanie worked hard to put out the word. We had sort of a tryout-type contest. They have to be in good academic standing and full-time undergrad students,” Fanning said. “We have six right now and hope get a few more in January.”
Fareno Jackson, Jeffrey Bland, Justin Smith, Huynh Nguyen, Chris Bobo and John Reliford make up the team that competes against the Lady Bulldogs during practice.
“I thought it was going to be easy. Then after playing them, I see it’s very complicated,” Jackson said. “You have to come in and play hard every day.”
Despite what the guys originally thought, they’ve discovered that there is no room for slouching in practice but there is sometimes a little room for trash talking.
“Tan (White) likes to talk a lot,” Smith said. “Tiania’s (Burns) pretty quiet. Doceida (Warren) makes fun of us more than anything.”
Bobo also identified Warren as the top culprit.
“Doceide talks the most plus she does a lot of holding,” Bobo said. “The referee ain’t going to see it all the time.”
Reliford, however, might have the toughest task. He usually matches up against all-SEC guard Tan White.
“It’s hard to defend Tan because she can shoot and she can get to the hole,” Reliford said. “You’ve got to be a complete package to defend her ability to pass the ball and you never know when she might shoot it or get by you.”
However, the top target area for improvement is post play from juniors Mamie McKinney and Chalandra Hilliard.
“Last season Coach Fanning was looking for someone to have an inside presence all season long,” McKinney said. “Last season I struggled with confidence at times and she really challenged me saying if I could play every game like the Florida game, it’s going to help out the team.”
Fanning said post play will be a critical area in today’s 7 p.m. home opener against New Orleans.
“It’s a team with new leadership and a new attitude,” Fanning said. “Their post players have had two double-doubles in two exhibition games and they rebound the ball well.”
Fanning said rebounding against guys in practice should help the Lady Dawgs rebound better in their games.
“The girls have to block the guys out a step further (from the goal) because they are quicker,” Fanning said.
The Lady Dawgs have already noticed improvement in rebounding and offensive play.
“Working with the guys has made us a better inside team,” Hilliard said. “A lot of the guys are bigger than us but we try to work hard on our post moves-up-and-unders, reverse pivots and jab-jabs.”
McKinney said she’s made adjustments from playing against the guys that will help her be more of a scoring factor down low.
“You learn to get your shot up higher to use a variety of moves because they are bigger, taller, more athletic,” she said.
White said McKinney’s been more aggressive this season.
“That’s going to be the difference in the game from last year,” she said.