Womhoops Guru

Mel Greenberg covered college and professional women’s basketball for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he worked for 40 plus years. Greenberg pioneered national coverage of the game, including the original Top 25 women's college poll. His knowledge has earned him nicknames such as "The Guru" and "The Godfather," as well as induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

WNBA: Philly Accent In Lynx Land

By Mel Greenberg



In light of the way the auction of The Inquirer went, the Guru is now being cited for "good timing" in getting off the ship last week, though he actually has a past friendship with former publisher Bob Hall, who is with the senior lenders that won the bid.


Meanwhile, as the Guru slips steadily into the WNBA training camp flow, he checked up on his two Philly peeps in Minnesota -- new Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, the former La Salle star from South Jersey, and rookie draft pick Gabriella Marginean out of Drexel.


"I'm loving every minute of it," Reeve said of running her own ship in the Twin Cities after assistant stints with past WNBA champion Detroit and Charlotte, two teams that no longer exist.


"Of course, I also loved it as a head coach of Indiana State," Reeve said.


She does have some nostalgic memories, however.


"I miss being around Bill (Laimbeer, the former Shock coach/GM), and Rick (Mahorn, who succeeded Laimbeer) and interacting with all those players," Reeve said.

Laimbeer is still nearby as an assistant on the NBA Minnesota Timberwolves.

As for Marginean, Reeve said, "As like any rookie, it's a learning experience but a good experience for her no matter what happens. The defensive drills are a little more challenging but we'll have a better idea in Friday's exhibition game.

"She seems to be enjoying it although she's a little quiet around the players," Reeve said.

That was no surprise to the Guru. The native of Romania was one tough interview as a freshman, but by her senior year when Marginean became the all-time women's scorer at Philadelphia area universities, the nickname "Gabby" was appropriate to her personality as well as her first name.

Meanwhile, a check of the traffic flow seems that many of you are quickly finding your way over here after the move on Tuesday back to the site.

And speaking of a real retirement, the Guru wishes longtime friend Langston Rogers well on his exit Friday from Mississippi after years as the top sports information director for the Rebels.

The Guru first met Rogers when the Guru was relatively new to women's hoops and Rogers with the head PR guy for Delta State, then the national arch-rival of Immaculata.

Yes, it wasn't always UConn-Tennessee.

There are colorful stories during Rogers' stint in Cleveland, Miss., but that is for another time and day.

For now, the Guru will sign out and return in another 24 hours with more.

-- Mel

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