文章基本信息

标题：GOAL ORIENTED
作者：Burns, Tony
期刊名称：Women's Basketball
印刷版ISSN：1524-9204
出版年度：2004
卷号：Jun 2004
出版社：Goldman Group

GOAL ORIENTED

Burns, Tony

When North Carolina's La'Tangela Atkinson sets a goal, she goes after it. "At the end of last season, I was second in the ACC in rebounding," she said. "I told Coach [Sylvia] Hatchell I wanted to lead the league."

The 6"1 " guard ended this season as the leading rebounder in the conference. "That was one of my goals, to be the number one rebounding guard in the ACC. I achieved it.

"I hate being second in anything," she added.

Atkinson averaged 9.9 points and 8.1 boards per game as a sophomore. She earned third-team AII-ACC honors.

"I like rebounding," she said. "I have the jumping ability. I've got some hops so when I go for a rebound, I like to jump as high as I can to see how close I can get to the rim."

Atkinson was eighth in the conference in field goal percentage, 12th in steals and 13th in assists for the Tar Heels, who lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

"I'm not satisfied because the team we had was a Final Four team," she said. "We worked so hard to be champions and to get to the Final Four. It hurt a lot, but there's nothing I can do now, except just to get ready for next season."

For Atkinson, the off-season is a time to set new goals.

"I have to be more aggressive, become more of an offensive threat," she continued. "I'm going to work on some things I need to do better to help the team next year.

"[After the last game] everybody put their finger on what they need to improve. If we all put it together, our team will be fine next year.

"I want to stay number one in the ACC in rebounding; another one of my goals is to be undefeated in the conference. My main goal is to be National Champion," she added. "I know we have the potential and the ability to do it." - Tony Burns