When you catch a little lightning in a bottle, especially for the first time, can you immediately recognize your own good fortune? Lacking any context, you can’t really know. But every once in a while, you dare to believe. The kid makes your jaw drop. And the next moment she makes you pull out your hair, enough to prolong the skepticism.

There was a time in Tempe, Ariz., when I thought the heavens had parted. A time when I believed Vivian Frieson was capable of doing anything on a basketball court. We were playing a club team with Kayla Pedersen, the current Stanford star. It was a close one. We were employing fullcourt pressure, as usual, but late in the game too many of our defenders sold out to the ball. One of their players streaked alone toward the basket. The ballhandler stopped in front of our double team short of midcourt and reared back to fire the ball to her unguarded teammate.
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