Portland Oregonian

Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)

February 6, 2002

YAMASAKI LOOKS FOR A HAPPY ENDING 2

	
JERRY ULMER - THE OREGONIAN


 After all that Lindsey Yamasaki has been through during her sometimes 
spectacular, sometimes disappointing and often enigmatic athletic 
career at Stanford, it is no wonder she is showing some wear.

 The pain from surgery on her right patellar tendon lingers. The ache 
from a stress reaction in her left foot never seems to go away.
	
"I feel old, in more than one way," the senior from Oregon City said. 
"I just feel sore and icky. I don't like going downstairs. I don't like 
pushing off my leg. It's just because I've played for so long and ran 
so much."

 Yamasaki might not be feeling as spry as she did in helping lead 
Oregon City High School to four Class 4A basketball championships. And she 
probably is still carrying some emotional baggage from the sticky issue 
of doubling as a volleyball player for the Cardinal and sometimes 
butting heads with basketball coach Tara VanDerveer.

 But she never has looked better on the basketball court.

 Yamasaki, a 6-foot-1 guard/forward, has been the driving force behind 
a Stanford team that comes to Oregon this week with a 14-game win 
streak, the Pacific-10 Conference lead and a No. 2 national ranking, the 
team's highest in five years.

 She leads the Cardinal (22-1, 12-0 Pac-10) in scoring with a 16.3 
point average and is playing with a confidence reminiscent of her Oregon 
City days, when many considered her one of the best girls high school 
players in Oregon history.

 "She's having a great senior year," VanDerveer said. "I'm really happy 
with how she's playing. I want her to realize, for her senior year, the 
dreams she came to Stanford for."

 Through much of her career, those dreams have appeared in jeopardy. 
After leading Stanford with a 14.0 scoring average as a freshman, she 
joined the volleyball team as a sophomore and helped the Cardinal reach 
the NCAA final. When she was late to rejoin the basketball team, though, 
she fell out of favor with VanDerveer and found herself on the bench, 
averaging 6.7 points and 15.0 minutes.

 Injuries slowed her development in the offseason before her sophomore 
and junior seasons. She gave up volleyball as a junior, but playing on 
a sore foot on a basketball team without a true point guard, she 
averaged 12.4 points and started eight games as Stanford finished 19-11.

 That's when she reached a turning point. Finally healthy enough to 
play in the offseason, she was a reserve on the U.S. team that won a gold 
medal in the World University Games in China. It changed her outlook.

 "I kind of got away and re-evaluated what I want out of basketball," 
she said. "I came back with this championship feeling, this confidence I 
haven't had in a long time. It's almost like back when I was in high 
school, the good old Oregon City days. I thought about what I wanted to 
give this team, not just with my play but with my attitude. We have that 
championship feeling. We think it's attainable."

 VanDerveer has noticed the difference in Yamasaki's approach. She said 
the work habits of players on the U.S. team probably rubbed off on 
Yamasaki, who has made strides in her defense and rebounding.

 "Lindsey came out of high school and had a big, strong body," 
VanDerveer said. "When you're so much better than people, sometimes you don't 
even know how you got to be that good. I think Lindsey has taken her 
game to the next level through more concentration and pushing herself 
every day in practice, not getting as frustrated or discouraged about 
things if they don't go her way. She's really matured a lot. That's the real 
key.

 "The way she is practicing and her confidence is a huge part of our 
team being successful. People look to Lindsey. If she struggles and gets 
frustrated with herself, she brings people down. Whereas the way she 
deals with things helps other people."

 Yamasaki's relationship with VanDerveer has been rocky during her 
career. They finally are pulling in the same direction in part because of 
something the coach told Yamasaki before the season.

 "She said, 'By the end of this season, I want you to be sad that it's 
over,' " Yamasaki said. "That really, really got to me. I know she 
meant that in more than one way."

 After three years of doubt, Yamasaki said she understands that 
VanDerveer wants what is best for her. VanDerveer said she sees a 
harder-working Yamasaki who is more open to criticism. The coach admitted that it 
has taken her time to understand Yamasaki's psyche.

 "Lindsey is really an outstanding person," VanDerveer said. "She has a 
lot of personality. She's always fun to be around. When she was 
younger, maybe I didn't do as good of a job as I wanted to in communicating, 
'This is what I need from you.' Now I feel like I can be very direct 
with Lindsey."

 Yamasaki has emerged as a leader on a team that has four freshmen 
making substantial contributions. She makes inspirational signs for the 
locker room and is not shy about calling the team together.

 On the court, her versatility creates mismatches that the Cardinal has 
exploited. With her teammates looking her way more often, she rarely 
forces her offense. She is playing like the high school All-American 
VanDerveer recruited.

 "You always have high hopes for everyone, but I can't want it for 
someone," VanDerveer said. "It's a joint project. Lindsey is playing 
relaxed and not putting pressure on herself. Sometimes when you get a lot of 
accolades, it puts pressure on you. She's letting the game come to her 
in a positive way."

 Yamasaki aspires to play in the WNBA, and VanDerveer, coach of the 
gold medal-winning 1996 U.S. Olympic Team, has endorsed her as a potential 
international and professional player. If she plays in the WNBA this 
summer, she still could return and play a final season of volleyball. She 
was watching on a TV in the basketball locker room when the volleyball 
team won the 2000 national title and felt a tug in her heart.

 "I love volleyball, and I always will," said Yamasaki, whose father, 
Syd, is the volleyball coach at Oregon City.

 Regardless of how her basketball career ends, she will leave her mark 
at Stanford. She has a realistic chance to finish in the career top 10 
for points, three-pointers and free throw percentage, and she tied a 
school record last season when she made nine three-pointers in a game at 
Washington.

 "I've had such an up-and-down career, I've learned a lot about myself 
-- how I deal with adversity, even good times," she said.