The Lowdown on Kristen Newlin

Article by Bob Iacopi

Photos by Don Anderson

A number of Stanford players have made news this summer, either with international teams or local pro-am teams. But we haven’t heard anything from junior center Kristen Newlin. So I sat down with her earlier this week to catch up on the Wyoming native’s situation.

Had she played any basketball during the summer? “No, I couldn’t,” she replied. “I had this laser-type procedure in July to correct the plantar fascitis in my right foot, and even though I walked out of the clinic afterwards, I had to pretty much stay off the foot for six weeks. So all I could do was ride the exercise bike, work out at home and do some swimming. I really enjoy swimming. I swam competitively for 15 years and still have a lot of friends in the sport.

“I couldn’t do any basketball drills until classes started here on September 26, and I have been restricted in my on-court activities until this week.

“It’s so nice to be pain-free. I played with the problem all of last basketball season, and after trying all sorts of rehab procedures and cortisone treatment, the doctors decided that I had to have the surgery. It really wasn’t surgery. The Stanford doctors didn’t cut anything, but they did subject my heel to a continuous pounding for half an hour, to get the foot to start bleeding internally and in effect cure itself. . The procedure itself didn’t hurt, because I was under anaesthesia. They sent me home with some pain killing medication, and I was never really uncomfortable, but I had to stay off my foot for about six weeks. This is a relatively new procedure, but I’m glad I did it, because the pain is completely gone now.”

This is a relatively new procedure, but I’m glad I did it, because the pain is completely gone.”

If Kristen can stay healthy for the entire season, what can we expect of her? “I am always working to improve all aspects of my game, but I am really concentrating on two areas this season. The first is defense. Last year, T’Nae Thiel was so important to our defense. We relied on her a lot. She played so hard, and not only did she defend her own player, she helped all of us with the entire defense. We are really going to miss her. Now it’s time from Brooke Smith and me to step up our defense to try and fill the gap left by T’Nae. I want the coaches to be able to rely on me to stop a post player down low. It’s going to be hard to replace T’Nae, but if the team is going to succeed, we have to play great internal defense. This is my top priority, and I hope you’ll see some big improvements over last year.

“The second is on offense, where I have to take some of the burden off Brooke and provide more floor leadership. Brooke and I have been playing a lot together and having a lot of fun, and I really look forward to playing next to her this year. And I have a lot of experience now, so it’s up to me to show the freshmen how to play Stanford basketball. We have good freshmen, and when they are on the floor, we have to help them play the best game possible.

“Again, T’Nae did so much of that last year, along with Azella Perryman. They were great examples for all of us, and I have to step up and do the same thing.

“I think of myself as a good free throw shooter, and I like to shoot the three-pointer. The coaches tell me to take the three when I’m open and feel comfortable with the shot. I hope I can continue to make a high percentage of them (she made two out of three last year).”

Who are the other leaders on this year’s team? “Different players step up at different times. But I have to single out Clare Bodensteiner. Ever since her freshman year, Clare has been a leader, on and off the floor. She is very vocal, and most importantly, very encouraging to everyone. She has great character, and she leads by example (see more about this in the last paragraph of this story). And of course, we have Candice. When she is on the floor, she sees everything. She’s the general. Not only does she run the offense, she helps us with our spacing and positions and pushes us to play hard. The fact that she is an All-American doesn’t hurt, either. All the young players look to Candice for help, and she is right there to do everything she can.”

In addition to the four one-hour practices a week (until October 15), all of the players lift weights three times a week. “Strength is such a big part of the game today. If we’re going to be able to play hard at the end of those tough games, we have to be strong. I don’t work on anything in particular. We have a routine to build up upper and lower body strength and improve our overall conditioning, and we do a lot of work on the abs. We also work out at the track and on the bike

What about diet? At 6’5”, and burning all those calories every day at practice and at games, how do you stay healthy? “We have a nutritionist available to us if we need help with diet. But we aren’t told what to eat. We have training table at Jimmy V’s five days a week, and the coaches make sure we get a balanced diet. I know some of the players have gone to the nutritionist’s classes, but I don’t really need that. I’m not big on supplements or special diets.”

She smiled, “I just eat everything. It was a little tough when I was recovering from the foot treatment. But I stayed with healthy foods and got through it OK without any significant weight gain. Now I’m back on my regular diet.”

Speaking of tough games, I reminded Kristen that Tennessee was coming to town on December 4. But she didn’t need any reminding. “Right from Day One, coach tells us that we have to practice hard right now, because we are going to play Tennessee and the Lady Vols are really going to put us to the test. That game is always in the back of our minds. They have so much talent, and they’re tough, and they play great defense. We haven’t been able to win the last few years, but we know that if we can pull out a win this year, on our home court, it will be a big boost in our morale and help our expectations for the rest of the season. If we can play with Tennessee, we can play with anybody. It’s going to be a really hard game, but we’re excited.”

In the 2004-2005 media guide, Kristen reported that the toughest player she had ever faced was Shawntinice Polk of Arizona. So I asked her what she remembered most about Polkie. “That was such a tragedy. Her death was totally shocking. Of course, it was a great personal loss for her family. As for basketball, it was a big loss not only for Arizona, but for basketball in general. She was one of the prominent players in the entire country, and we all will miss her. Her death hit our team really hard. Not only had we played against her on the court, but a lot of us knew her personally. We were all in total disbelief that an athlete, our age, could die like that.

“What I remember most about Polkie was her ability to stay calm when the opposing team was doing everything to stop her. She would be double-teamed, triple-teamed, and still she played her game and didn’t get flustered. She had great presence on the court and she inspired the rest of her team. When we played the Wildcats, our whole defense revolved around stopping Polkie. She knew it was coming, but she didn’t let it bother her. She handled the attention so well.

“When I guarded Polkie, I knew I was going to foul her. Sometimes, it was the only thing I could do. But I knew that I had to be very physical and stay aggressive with her. If you backed off of Polkie, she would take the ball to the hoop every time.

“It makes you think about life. Here was such a young person, with a great personality and a great future in life, and she’s gone. None of us can take anything for granted, can we?”

Kristen is known as a shot-blocker, but she has refined her techniques since the high school days in Riverton, Wyoming. “In high school, I was always trying for the blocked shot, and sometimes I would get faked out a lot, and wind up off-balance or out of position. Now, I just concentrate on playing good, solid defense. If the opportunity is there, and I can get a block, great. But often, if I can disrupt a shot, it’s just as good as a block. It’s really all about timing. I have to keep my hands active and my feet active, and stay on balance. If I jump unnecessarily, that’s just a foul waiting to happen.”

So what happens to Kristen Newlin when she stops playing basketball. “I really haven’t made up my mind yet. My major is cultural and social anthropology and I’m really interested in economics. This quarter, I’m taking three classes in my major and trying to balance the academics with basketball. I should graduate with my class, but if I don’t, I can come back for one more quarter and finish up anything I need. Then maybe I’ll go to business school. We’ll see.”

After the interview, I stayed at Maples Pavilion to watch practice for a while. During the first half hour, Kristen worked in all the half court drills, where she jumped well, made spin moves easily, and looked comfortable handling the ball.

The last half hour of practice was spent in a full-court controlled scrimmage. Kristen played the whole time. On offense, I thought she looked rusty and hesitant to take her usual shots, especially her favorite, the turn-around jumper. Kristen is not ambidextrous, but she works hard on shots with the left hand. “I really like to turn and drive left, because I don’t want my opponents to be able to predict what I’m going to do. So I really want to develop that move.”

On defense, Kristen made her presence known right away. She worked mostly against Brooke Smith, which is no easy task. If you liked Brooke last year, you are going to love her this year. She exudes confidence, and appears to be on top of her game, probably because of the international experience she gained this summer. So Kristen had her hands full, but she held her ground, clogged up the middle effectively, and did not commit any foolish fouls.

Kristen even ran wind sprints with the rest of the team. She is never going to be the fastest Cardinal, but she didn’t seem to favor the right foot and didn’t show any noticeable limp when the sprints were over. All in all, I thought it was a very encouraging workout, and Kristen is sure to get better. She already looks improved over last year - the maturity shows.

“I feel good,” she said, “and I have complete confidence in the foot. After all the problems last year, this is a big relief. I don’t wear any brace or special wrapping now, just orthotics inside my shoes. I don’t feel tired, and just have to play my way back into my usual game.” All players must have their ankles taped or wear ankle braces for each game, and Kristen gets more support from that.

Kristin introduces rookie Morgan Clyburn to the finer points of post etiquette at the college level. Welcome to the Bigs, Morgan!

And true to Kristen’s statements, Clare Bodensteiner was very vocal with her leadership at both ends of the court during the entire practice. After Rosalyn Gold-Onwude made a very nice defensive play and slapped the ball out of Candice Wiggins’ hands, Clare rushed right to her side and said, “Don’t back off. Keep it up.” It was enough to make a fan smile.