Catchings approaches life, basketball at full throttle

By KEVIN TRESOLINI

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece -- Tamika Catchings will never take a basketball game or a basketball championship for granted, an approach that should serve the heavily favored United States Olympic team well here.

A knee injury that cut short her senior season at Tennessee, then put off her pro career an entire year, remains etched in Catchings' mind alongside the lesson it taught her.

"I think God was talking to me," she said. "I was thinking about basketball and nothing else at the time."

Now Catchings, 25, throws herself into other things, particularly charity work aimed at putting disadvantaged kids in basketball camps. The Indiana Fever forward has been awarded for her community projects three times by the WNBA and was 2002 rookie of the year. She was President Bush's guest at his 2004 State of the Union speech as an Olympic representative.

At the same time, her long-obvious basketball proficiency hasn't suffered. It continues to evolve in ways her U.S. teammates appreciate.

"She can post-up, shoot the three, play defense better than anyone . . . she does absolutely everything," marveled U.S. teammate Tina Thompson. "I've never seen a player like her. She never stops moving."

Even in a rout like Saturday's 99-47 verdict over New Zealand in the Olympic opener for Team USA, Catchings' contributions were obvious at the Helliniko Indoor Arena.

The 6-foot Catchings played more minutes (26) and had more steals (four) than any of her teammates. She also grabbed eight rebounds, topped only by Diana Taurasi's nine. Only her scoring -- six points on 2-for-9 field-goal shooting -- wasn't up to snuff, which hardly mattered.

"I'm going to work my butt of to do whatever needs to be done for this team," said Catchings, a daughter of former NBA player Harvey Catchings. "If that means just playing defense and not really worrying about scoring, that's what I'm willing to do. I want to win the gold medal and take advantage of this opportunity when I have it.

"My role on this team is not to be a scorer. We've got plenty of scorers. I'll put the ball in the hole if I get it. But what the Fever needs me to do is totally different from what I do here."

Catchings took part in Friday night's Opening Ceremonies, a tiring yet ultimately fulfilling venture. Exhaustion is easily soothed by exhilaration, she learned.

Now there are two weeks of basketball ahead, culminating -- she hopes -- with an Olympic gold medal on Aug. 28.

"It's an awesome feeling to know all that you've done to get to this point, the road you've taken," she said. "It might not be super straight. You've had a lot of trials and tribulations. But here we are."