January’s dive keeps Indiana Fever hopes of claiming WNBA title alive
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
Briann January’s dive must have seemingly lasted forever.
Moments after the Indiana Fever point guard botched a wide-open layup that could have won Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday, she showed what she’s about.
No time for sulking or woe-is-me embarrassment. There was a game to win.
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With the score tied at 76 and the clock winding down in a win-or-go-home contest for the Fever, January missed, then hustled to the ball as though her life depended on it. She made a miraculous save, then slid out of bounds helplessly as the rest of the play unfolded.
Shavonte Zellous collected January’s save, drove, then calmly drained the game-winner in the final second of a 78-76 victory. (Check the video at 2:10) Indiana tied the series and forced a decisive Game 3 Thursday in Connecticut.
It’s more special when you consider how she got to that place.
January missed most of last season with a torn right ACL. She came back this year better than ever, adding a consistent jumper to her already strong handles and defensive skills. She was named to the WNBA’s All-Defense first team, and there are whispers that she should be under consideration for the U.S. National team.
None of that mattered with seven seconds left, when January’s shot, which followed a perfect long pass from Tamika Catchings, bounced off the rim.
January made what coaches like to call a “winning play.” Everything the Fever were missing in last year’s playoffs was on display on that dive. It wasn’t glamorous, though January can be that, too. But it showed that at least one player on the team shares Catchings’ tenacity. Most teams don’t have anyone on that level.
I asked Catchings about January late in the regular season, and her response surprised me. Catchings has always been honest about what she sees. She respects opponents but doesn’t give undue praise. She gave January some of the highest praise possible, including her as part of a Big Three with herself and Katie Douglas.
She showed why she deserved that level of respect on Monday.
It’s unusual that the player who missed a possible game winner be praised in this way. But as coaches always say, it’s the little things that separate winning and losing, that make the difference between forcing a Game Three or going home, that keep Catchings’ dream of winning a championship alive.
The Fever are simply four wins away from their first WNBA title. If they claim it, Catchings and January might someday look back at one of the most meaningful plays in Fever history.
Not Zellous’ shot.
The dive.
