VALENCIA (Olympics) - There is a very real and tantalizing prospect that the United States women at next year's Olympics will have both Sylvia Fowles and Brittney Griner on its frontline.
The 26-year-old Fowles, a 1.98m Chicago Sky center who's been on the international radar since helping the Americans capture gold in Beijing, was recently named as the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year.
Griner, a towering 2.03m center who is a rising junior at Baylor University, is the biggest star in the American college game.
She is showing signs of greatness on the USA's current tour in Europe.
In Wednesday night's game at Ros Casares, Griner scored 22 points, corralled eight rebounds and blocked three shots.
Both Fowles and Griner are crowd-pleasers.
Not only can they swat shots, but dunk.
Do an internet search for Griner dunks and there are plenty of videos to look at.
She'd rather fans see her slams live, though.
"If I can get a dunk in a game," she said to FIBA.com this week, "I'm going to try and do it so I can show them in person instead of them going on YouTube and looking at it."
Griner has done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm about her game during the USA's tour of Europe while playing for coach Geno Auriemma.
She's keeping things in perspective, though.
After all, she's only 20 years old.
"Almost 21," she said, laughing.
Griner's birthday is October 18.
Does the suggestion that she could be the best center of all time faze her in the slightest?
"No, it's not a lot of pressure," she said.
"When people say, 'You're going to be like the greatest player, I just take it as I'm adding onto the game, doing something that other players couldn't do.
"I know there will be somebody, a younger girl looking up to me, who's going to come along and do something that I couldn't do.
"And I think that's great about the women's game.
"It keeps adding something different every year and that's what I feel like I'm doing, adding on."
Griner is happy to be facing top competition wearing a USA jersey.
"I was honored just to be able to wear the USA apparel and to be able to play with the other girls on the team," she said.
"It's kind of a like a dream come true.
"Growing up (in America), this is the top team.
"There is nothing greater than playing for your country. When I got the call, I was very excited and anxious to get out here.
"It's a family on the court and I just always wanted to be a part of that.
"I'm getting the chance to work towards maybe getting picked for the Olympic team."
