Bucknell University Athletics
Creamer Pursuing Her Dream in Israel
3/24/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 24, 2004
April 25, 2003 started out pretty much like any other spring Friday for Molly Creamer: wake up and realize that four years of classes, friends and basketball was nearing a conclusion. While the end of classes may not have resulted in any tears, the thought of leaving behind years of friendships and hanging up the high-tops was a constant cloud in the air.
The ending to that fateful day, however, was much different than Fridays of the past. By the conclusion of the day, Creamer had learned, with the help of ESPN, that her dream of playing professional basketball was becoming a reality. The high-tops would be laced up again, as the most prolific scorer ever to wear a Bucknell basketball uniform had just been drafted by the WNBA as the tenth pick in the first round. Adding to the excitement was the news that the team that had drafted her was the New York Liberty, a club that calls Madison Square Garden home and is located just about an hour away from Creamer's hometown of Mendham, N.J., and only three hours from the school and friends she was fretting leaving in the next month.
In the days that ensued, Creamer's life was thrown into a whirlwind of activity. Because of the start date of training camp, the history major would have to leave Bucknell before final exams even began, meaning she would have to wrap up her college career in a four-day span. Thanks to a diligent work ethic that has been one of the major defining traits of her character, Creamer managed to hand in all four of her final papers by the time she headed to New York to earn herself a spot on the squad. After all, getting drafted was just an invitation for a tryout. Making the team would require another month of practices and preseason games, with every player trying to win her case for a place among the elite.
The first part of the preseason went great for Creamer. The 5-10 guard debuted in a New York uniform just five days after the preseason began, in a game at the Mohegan Sun Arena as the Liberty took on the newly formed Connecticut Sun. Creamer made the most of the experience, coming off the bench to score 12 points in 14 minutes of action in a New York victory. The Liberty played two more preseason games in the next month, and although Creamer's contributions seemed sure to win her a spot on the roster, the upper management with New York felt differently, and on May 21, less than a month after it all began and just one day before the official season began, the whirlwind came crashing to a halt.
Many would have been content to accept that they had tried, given it their all, and come up just short. Anyone who knows Molly Creamer knows that would not be the case for this determined individual. Creamer's time with the New York Liberty, albeit brief, had given her a taste of what it is like to do something she loved, and call it her profession.
After taking some time off to collect her thoughts and breathe for the first time since April 25, Creamer got right back at it. She and her parents, along with her agent, began exploring options of playing in Europe or other international leagues. A club called Hapoel Petah Tikva in the Israeli League became the team that would represent the next chapter of Creamer's life.
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"My goal in coming to Israel was to gain experience and to push myself to get better as a player. When I get back to the United States, I'll continue to train. I would like to get back in a WNBA camp, but I'll have to wait and see if that opportunity is there for me."
- Molly Creamer '03
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In September, just as she had done four years before when she left for Bucknell, Creamer packed her bags and got ready for the adventure of a lifetime, in a world she had never experienced. "I was looking forward to experiencing a different country," commented Creamer via an email conversation. "I am also excited to be expanding my views about how the world is outside of what I have seen in the past."
A different world it is. Speaking strictly in a basketball sense, the games are played in quarters, not halves. Not a major change, but different. In addition, Creamer had to get acclimated to being moved from her comfortable position of point guard, a spot she made famous with her exciting passes and flair at Bucknell, to a shooting guard. Another minor change on paper, but to someone who had mastered the craft, it required some adjustment time. "I was used to playing both guard positions," says Creamer. "Now I am strictly a two-guard on this team. It was different at first, but now I feel comfortable."
And of course, there are the cultural differences, but Creamer claims there have not been many instances where it has been a problem. She is always sure to ask if the movie she is going to see is in English or Hebrew, but when it comes to her teammates, the language barrier is barely evident. "My teammates' first language is Hebrew, but nearly all of them can speak English fluently, which is fortunate for the Americans on the team!"
One thing that has not changed during the commute from the United States to Israel is Creamer's game. After a rough start in her first three games, the shooting guard finally found her touch, leading Petah Tikva to its first win of the season with her first 20-point game. Since then, she has recorded three more 20-point games, including a season-high 27 in a four-point loss.
 Creamer was among the Israeli League leaders in scoring, assists per game, and 3-pt. FG%. |
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Fifteen games into the season, with just three regular-season contests left, Creamer is scoring 16.6 points per game for her squad behind a field goal percentage of 54.3. She is connecting on 47.0% of her shots from downtown, and is ranked among the league's best three-point shooters. It is obvious that old habits die hard, as even though she has moved strictly to the shooting-guard position, and is succeeding there, Creamer is still handing out 3.4 assists per game.
With the season winding down, Petah Tikva is in sixth place in the ten-team league with a 7-8 record. The top-six teams advance to the playoffs and, as it is shaping up, the last game of the season could mean the difference between sixth and seventh place. Depending on the outcome of that contest, Creamer's adventure in Israel could be over in March or early April. And then, it's back to the states to see if she can cause enough stir to get the whirlwind started again.
"My goal in coming to Israel was to gain experience and to push myself to get better as a player," admits Creamer. "When I get back to the United States, I'll continue to train. I would like to get back in a WNBA camp, but I'll have to wait and see if that opportunity is there for me."
Obviously, the journey from Israel to New Jersey or Pennsylvania is much more than three hours. For the first time in her life, Creamer is facing this challenge without the support system of her family and friends a stone's throw away. Thankfully, in this day and age, it does not always come down to location. As the result of all of the amazing technological advances, Creamer has had no problem keeping in touch with her mom, dad, brother and two sisters, or with her Bucknell teammates and friends. Her common means of communication has become email, or the ever-growing-in-popularity AOL Instant Messenger.
Even the Athletic Communications Office has gotten involved in the trend. Often times, the office signs on after a game when preparing to write stories and post them on the website for Bison fans. Creamer, however, usually gets the first taste of what has happened as she eagerly awaits responses from the office to her inquiries on how her Bison comrades have fared. After she receives the score and a few highlights, she is usually off to bed (considering the seven hour time difference usually means it is around 2 a.m. when she is waiting for the updates!), but not before almost inevitably closing the conversation with the same three words: "I miss Bucknell."
We miss you too, Molly. We miss you too.
