JMU’s Kamiah Smalls chatted with us from Italy (she’ll play her first game on Saturday). She shares her thoughts on making it to the wubble, guarding Diana Taurasi and what she loved most about coach Marianne Stanley.
On just how cool the wubble was:
The wubble was as interesting as it gets. You’re playing these teams, you may be winning, you may be losing — you’re still eating lunch with them every day, eating breakfast with them the next day. So, it was a very interesting situation, you know. Personally, even in my short window, I would say there’s a lot of emotions involved. You’re away from your family for a very long time. It’s compact, there’s this little space, and they want you to perform every other day.
Making friends with her Fever teammates:
I grew very close with Kennedy Burke. She started starting halfway through the season. Great person. She helped me. She welcomed me with open arms. We actually started having breakfast together. Kelsey Mitchell as well, and Tiffany Mitchell. They both were very genuine people, very helpful people. Teaira McCowan. Great people. I would say I grew real big with the majority of my teammates.
Me and Kelsey Mitchell feel the same way about basketball. We take it very seriously; our passion is very high for the game. That cold spell we went on (an eight-game losing streak) really hit us hard. Losing all those games really wasn’t sitting right with us. So that was something I really grew attached to while I was there.
Making friends with opponents
I actually sat with Ruthy Hebard (Oregon star, set NCAA record with 33 consecutive field goals). She holds the record for most consecutive field goals in NCAA history. I ate lunch with her one day, and I actually got to know her pretty well. This was her first year, too, and her experience from the beginning of the bubble to that point. . . . We chatted for a while. We had a lot more in common than I thought we probably would. Right after we were done talking, she actually followed me on Instagram so, it was pretty cool.
Hey! It’s Candace Parker
Everybody in that league was great, you know. I was starstruck to even be there. The very first day I got there, I had went through my quarantine and all that, so the very first day I actually got into the wubble, I actually rode on a cart with Candace Parker, and I was like, I had to play it cool, but I was stuck. So that was one moment. And then once I got in against Phoenix and was guarding Diana Taurasi, and I was like, I’m guarding Diana Taurasi! This is crazy!
Was she hard to guard?
Absolutely. You don’t know when that woman’s going to shoot the ball, you don’t know if she’s going to pass. . . . I would actually say Skylar Diggins (Smith) is actually a harder guard. Skylar is fabulous and as good as you can get with using ball screens. She knows how to really put a defender in the ball screen, but Diana’s definitely a challenge as well.
On being tested for COVID-19 daily
Every single day. Still kind of draining. The taste of cotton in your mouth every day isn’t good. But, you know, it was tolerable. It was about the safety of us first, and . . . .whatever we needed to do to keep the season going and be as safe as possible.
Getting in the game
Now about that first trey . . .
First thing I did was go ‘Whew!’
Once that 3 went down, I said, ‘OK, you’re relaxed. You can hang. Just be you.’
Being that mid-major kid that a lot of people, you know. . . I’m guessing they didn’t have a scout on me. I was just out there being me, Ladyswish. That’s stuff I do at JMU. If you leave me open from 3, obviously I’m going to shoot the ball. We’re pros here. A wide-open 3-pointer for a guard — it’s my job to hit those shots. But it definitely took some weight off my back and helped me believe in myself.
BTW, Smalls buried her first five 3-pointers as a pro.
On playing under Marianne Stanley
I think the one thing I actually love about Coach Stanley was the fact that she was from Philadelphia as well. From the Philly area, let’s say. She did attend my high school, actually, before it combined with boys and girls. She went to the girls school. So she has that Philly stern-ness, that grit and grind. That was something I loved about playing for her. In the scheme of what happened in my two weeks, I don’t think she asked me to do more than I was capable of doing. She wanted me to go out there and play hard. She didn’t expect me to memorize all those plays in three weeks, but she did expect me to have at least some of it down pat, as an athlete should. So, she definitely took her time with me, and I really appreciated that.
Surely, you mixed in some fun?
Yeah, so one day, every team was able to go to the beach. As we were sitting there, a lady tells us the guys going to cut the coconuts from the reef. Now I’ve never drank from a coconut before, so I asked the lady if I could have one. So she gave us one, and, ah, it wasn’t very good. And what really shocked me was I thought coconuts were brown. They’re green! So I was like, ‘Wow!’
So I got to try coconut juice for once. Didn’t like it.
What was quarantine like?
I tried to talk to people as much as possible, and keep myself busy when I wasn’t talking to people. I was trying to study the game, as always. I watched a lot of basketball games when I was in quarantine by myself. I was watching those games and trying to get my workouts in at least two times a day to keep myself in the best condition possible. I tried to do as much cardio as I could.
You stayed in your room the whole time?
Yep. The whole time. The whole time. It was actually pretty strange to me. I had a nice view, so I would look out the window sometimes. It was messed up because once I moved to actually go into the wubble I still had to quarantine for 2-3 days. And I had a pool view. So I could see everybody at the pool. I’m just staring out the window, like, ‘Wow. This sucks.’
On her shot at the WNBA again
Absolutely. And I think I definitely could be there a full season. As long as I take care of my business in the offseason and do the things that I need to improve on in my end-of-the-year evaluation then I definitely believe the Fever is going to be my home next year.
On what she needs to do to improve
One of the biggest things is getting stronger. In the CAA, we were one of the bigger teams. Here, I’m the midget. So, getting stronger is definitely No. 1 on my list. That, and change of speed and change of pace. Being able to stop and go on a dime is important here. Being able to make decisions quickly is important here. So, I’m working on all my reactions, my strength, my weaknesses — my left hand, it definitely could be better — so, there’s room for improvement.
On talking to JMU coach Sean O’Regan
He talked to me every single day. He gave me more feedback than anything. He’s trying to let them coach me, but he put a little extra in my ear like, ‘You just be you. Do you and work as hard as you always worked and everything will fall into place.’ We talked after almost every single game, to be honest, about just what he saw and his opinions on what could have been better and stuff like that.
On life in Italy
The No. 1 difference is they don’t have air conditioning here. They eat pasta, pizzas, bread. They love the carbs here.