Women's Basketball: Carey Media Day Quotes
October 16, 2008 04:29 PM | General
October 16, 2008
What he expects out of this season...
We play Indiana, Santa Clara and Fresno State. All but Indiana is on the road. People keep asking me how I am going to evaluate this team and I just know that we have to get better. What I’ve seen in individual workouts is that we’re small. We only have three girls back from last year’s team and one of those girls sat out. We only have two girls back that really played last year so it’s going to be a learning curve. It’s going to be a large learning curve and I’ve asked other people to have patience. I guess I need to have patience because it’s going to take a lot of patience here for a couple months, it really is. We did our practice schedule for tomorrow and ‘wow,’ we have to start back to basics. It’s going to be a learning curve but one thing that I am proud of is that this team is working extremely hard. They have great attitudes, a great work ethic and they are doing well in the classroom, but man, we have a lot to learn on the floor. We’re going to do a lot of fundamentals early, a lot of teaching, a lot of film work, more than what I’ve done since the time I’ve been here. I have to build the base this year and I have to build the program back up. That’s my key this year, to build the base. We think we’re going to have an excellent 2009 class coming in, a Top 15 in the country, and then we have to have an excellent 2010 class. If we do that, we’re going to be back where we were, if not better.
We have no starters back except Ashley Powell at the point guard, so this is the first year I can really say that every position is open because it is. I think that is why they are working so hard, because they all know they have the opportunity to earn playing time. I’m going to play the five best. We aren’t able to be choosy and say we want so many guards or post players; I’m going to play the five best. If that happens to be five guards, then we will play five guards. I’m going to put the best five players on the floor and we will adjust our offense and defense to those best five players. Early in the season, until we get the other players accustomed to what we are doing, hopefully I can get five or six players early who know what is going on. I look for girls like Ashley Powell, Sarah Miles and Liz Repella to play a lot of minutes early. Madina Ali will have to play a lot of minutes and so will Takisha Granberry until we start developing the others. That is going to be interesting to see who develops and gets into the rotation.
On new Strength Coach Andy Ketller...
He has been excellent. You talk about a big difference in conditioning! In preseason, we usually go three days lifting and two days running and conditioning. This year, he switched that up because a lot of the new girls didn’t know what to expect, and they came in here not in the shape they need to be in so he switched that up. Now we’re running three days a week and lifting two days a week and it has made a big difference. Even in our individual workouts, you can tell. They are in so much better shape and they can get up and down the floor so much easier. I don’t think conditioning will be an issue, he’s done an excellent job and there is no doubt in my mind that he’ll continue to do that.
On Liz Repella...
Liz had a lot of talent around her last year so she was the one that they didn’t really guard on the perimeter. She was always the one that was overlooked but now this year, they are going know where she is. It’s also going to be a new role for her and it’s a role she has to learn. She’s a hard worker, a great young lady. This group of girls are great people, great workers who work hard, but they just don’t understand what we want offensively and defensively. But you know what, if you ask them to do something, they are going to do exactly the way you tell them to do it. I think we will continue to get better because of that if attitudes and work ethics stay as good as they are right now.
On this year’s philosophies...
I tailor the system to the players. We will have to change a lot of stuff because of the undersized posts, and we’ll have to change a lot of stuff that we do both offensively and defensively. We’ll have to play defense with a lot more gimmicks. We can’t play just straight up man to man as much as I like to. We’re play a little more zone and even the 1-3-1. We’ll have to keep them off balance offensively and not let them get comfortable because we just don’t have the people to match up with you.
As coaches, we can’t take anything for granted. In individuals, we have done so much of the fundamentals; we haven’t even gotten into team stuff. We have to teach them how to come off of a pick, how to set a pick, teach them change of speed; we’re going back to fundamentals. It’s amazing how they come from junior college, and winning programs, but once they get here, you can’t take anything for granted. I’m just going to bring them on slowly. My philosophy has always been that we’re going to put in a few things, and when we do it well we will move on. If we don’t do it well, then we’ll stay there the whole year until we do it well. I’m not the type of coach who is going to put 20 things in and have them not do anything very well. I rather put two things in and do it well, so that’s what we’re going to do.
On Ashley Powell...
Ashley Powell came in here as a freshman, and started as a freshman with talent around her. She went up through with all the talent around her and now, all of a sudden, that’s not there and there are new players that don’t understand the offense and defense. That can be frustrating for a point guard. She knows what to do but no one else on the floor knows what’s going on. She is going to have to show a lot of leadership.
On the BIG EAST
I think we’re going to be ranked, as far as in the BIG EAST preseason, low, and rightfully so because we lost nine people. Wwe should be ranked low. But I’ll tell you what, and I really believe this, these young ladies are going to work hard. You’re not going to come in here or we’re not going to go somewhere else and lay down. Win or lose we’re not going to lay down. We’re going to work hard and they are going to know we showed up. That is something positive. Whether or not we’re going to have the scorers we need or the rebounding we need, we’re going to come and show up and show improvement as the year goes on.
You have to understand, the majority of these players have never been through the BIG EAST before. They don’t know what to expect, everything is going to be new to them, and they will be learning new offenses and new defenses. Everything is new to them and then they have a new league they are playing through. It’s going to take patience and time, it really is.
On This Year’s Staff
We have the best staff that I’ve had since I’ve been here and it’s going to show in recruiting over the next two years. Our ’09 class, we’re excited about if we get everyone that has given us a verbal and we’re going to have a great class. We’re already starting on the 2010 and we are very excited about the future.
On What to Expect in Practice
We didn’t film individuals. My first step with this group is for them to know the speed and for them to know how hard they have to go. That was my first step. They think they are going hard but they’re not going hard enough for me. Now we have them going hard but now the next step is to have them go hard and have them change speeds a little bit. Now they just go hard when you are supposed to go hard then slow down, come off picks, they just go 90 miles an hour and because of that we have turnovers and no one is setting picks. It’s a step by step process. The biggest thing with me is that if you go hard you have heart, and you play together, then you have an opportunity to win. We’ll teach them what we expect but it’s going to take some time.
Comparisons on this year to his first season in 2001-02
My first year, we had a lot more people that have gone through the BIG EAST than we have this year. In my 20-some years of coaching, I’ve never had this happen before. We lost seven seniors, a couple which graduated early, we brought in people, and it’s just one of those years, but no excuses. That is something I emphasize with the girls, too – we expect to win. We expect to win, we expect to go hard and we expect to do well. If we’re not doing that then we have to do a better job as coaches and players.
It’s important to go one year through the BIG EAST to see what kind of talent is in the BIG EAST, and what kind of players will be successful and who aren’t. These players are the same way. We’re going to be ok but once they see some of the great players in the BIG EAST, they are going to say ‘wow, I have to work a little harder.’ Hopefully the returning players can tell the girls that they have to be ready for it. There is no doubt in my mind that we’ll work hard and we’ll see what happens.
