Oct. 11, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Q: How are things going thus far and what are you looking to build upon from last year?
A: So far things are going really well. I love the energy the team has right now. I love the competitiveness and the work ethic that I am seeing. This is a fun bunch. They enjoy the game; they enjoy being in the gym and working hard. That is reflective in how our practices have been so far. I am hoping to build off last year in the step that we made forward in terms of a winning season and getting into postseason play. We want to build on that and just continue to move forward in that direction and be more competitive. We want to make more noise in conference play and compete for a conference championship this year.
Q: You have a young team for the second year in a row. Do you feel like going through that challenge last year you know more going into this year? What are some of the challenges you face with a young team like this one?
A: Well, every team is different. Every personality of the team is different. We are very young. However, I will say on a positive side, we have had great leadership from our captains this year. Julia Trogele is our only senior, she is a captain and she has done a phenomenal job thus far of providing leadership. Also, Mia Nickson is a junior, but only has sophomore eligibility, but her experience being in college helps. Those two have worked together to provide us some really good leadership. I am hoping that leadership will help neutralize some of the young (growing) pains we are going to go through. We are going to rely on a lot of freshmen and sophomores to play, to contribute in a big way, in bigger ways than they have in the past in terms of our returning players. But I am optimistic because of the leadership that we have right now.
Q: Coach you talked about this being a fun bunch. Would you say they are reflective of your personality and would you say that is important to have that kind of chemistry and balance?
A: Are they reflective of my personality? Well you know I will let you guys see that when you go out on the court. In some ways they are reflective of my personality in the intensity they bring to practice. I think that they are a bunch that they love the game of basketball and they like playing and they like being in this atmosphere. So in that sense I will say they are reflective of my personality.
Q: Is it important to have that kind of chemistry?
A: It is absolutely important to have that kind of chemistry. Especially, I think for a young team. So, I think that this team has the kind of chemistry that will help us in some tough situations and we are going to face some tough situations this year - going on the road or if we lose a couple games in a row, what is our ability to bounce back. I do think they have that kind of personality that can bounce back from those types of things. Again, I am just really optimistic about where we are.
Q: Back in the day, Penn Stae regularly mined Philadelphia for talent and has kind of dropped off. How have you been able to get back in the mix down there?
A: I credit all that to our assistant coaches and our players. When kids come on campus, they hang out with our current players and they are a good bunch and a fun bunch. You know, they are good kids and they help set the stage; those players that are coming in, for what kind of program this is going to be. It has not been hard for those guys to build relationships with future players and our assistant coaches do a great job of getting down to Philadelphia and finding the talent and creating relationships early on unofficially for a game, for a football game, for whatever the case may be. I just think we have done a lot of work, but we have good kids and that makes it easy.
Q: What kind of impact are you looking for from the freshman and to have Mia [Nickson] in with the new players this year?
A: I think they are going to have a big impact. I expect them to play a lot of minutes and do what they do well. Maggie [Lucas] is a shooter. She can throw the ball up and when she is on the floor I want her shooting the ball. We talked and I told her, "I would rather her go 0-for-22 than 0-for-2. I just want you to shoot the ball." Because that is what she does well. I think Mia [Nickson] is going to give us definitely some depth down in the post, a physical presence. Especially, on the defense end of the floor, rebounding the ball, she is a tough, tenacious physical player. Ariel [Edwards], she is active, long, a tremendous defender. So, I think she is going to impact us defensively and get us out of transition and help our transition game get going. I expect them to have a big impact. We need to have them have a big impact if we are going to have the kind of success we want to have this year.
Q: Alex Bentley obviously had a very successful freshman year. What is her role this year and has it changed at all?
A: Her role has not changed in the sense of what we expect her to do, night in and night out. She is going to play the same style of basketball, but her role has changed that she will not have Tyra Grant, a senior who was a three-year starter on the other end of the floor. So, her role in some ways is going to change in that she is going to have to be a smarter player. She has got to be the player who is going to lead the team, but she has to grow in her understanding of the position and how to impact the team as a leader and not simply as a scorer.
Q: Is there a sense of maybe a comfort level that these are all your players and the first four-year you have had?
A: I would not say that. I feel like I have been pretty comfortable all four years that I have been here. I feel comfortable in the sense that this team probably has the most talent since I have been here. I think we are going to be a team that is going to be a little different than in the past. In the past, we have relied on one or two players to carry us all three years that I have been here. I think that this year we are going to be a team that has a little more depth to it. We can spread out the offensive responsibilities and we will not have to rely on one or two people to get 20 points. I think we may not have a 20-point scorer, but we may have four kids that are all in double figures or five kids that are all in double figures and getting some serious punch from our bench. That gets me a little bit more excited.
Q: How much added pressure is there to make the NCAAs this year given that you will have the first and second rounds here?
A: I do not look at it as an added pressure; I mean that is our goal. If this room was empty right now, we still want to go. If the NCAA Tournament was not being played here at Penn State, that would still be our goal. So, we just want to take advantage of it and that is the way we look at it; that we have a serious advantage having the NCAA Tournament here at home. Our goal is to get there and lets take advantage of the opportunity we have to get a couple games at home.
Q: [Emily Phillips] transferred out of the program over the summer. What are you looking at behind Alex [Bentley] and does that make her have to play smarter? Does it make her stay on the floor as many minutes as possible?
A: We will play point guard by committee when Alex is not on the floor. Maggie Lucas will get a little time at point; Zhaque [Gray] will get a little time at point, maybe even Gizelle Studevent will get a little time at point. So we will play point guard by committee, but I do not even want to say point guard because the way we play, anyone can bring the ball up the court at any time. So it is not going to be anything different when she is not on the floor. What is going to be different is her leadership. So we have to work with all of the other guards when Alex [Bentley] is not on the floor being vocal, understanding what we are doing and taking that role on that we are not just feeling rudderless because Alex is not on the floor.
Q: You finished with a 5-7 road record last year. How much of a focus is that going into the season and trying to become a better more consistent team on the road?
A: Some of that is youth. I would like to say it will be better for us. I cannot say it will be a focus. There are a lot of things we need to focus on. Basketball is basketball; it does not matter where you go, it does not matter where you play, basketball is basketball. Some teams do not seem to have a problem playing on the road. I will give that playing on the road is a difficult challenge but it is not insurmountable. We have to play quality basketball whether we are playing at home or whether we are playing on the road. Our mindset is to be consistent and consistency is doing the same things all the time when the ball goes up in the air and we want to be consistent. We want to be consistent on the road, we want to be consistent at home, and we want to play our style of basketball every night. If we do that we are going to win some on the road, we are going to win some at home. We are going to be a tough team if we can play consistent basketball.
Q: One of your returning starters, Nikki Greene, what are you looking from her this season?
A: I am looking for [Nikki Greene] to be more of a presence this year. Nikki is very interesting because her freshman year, it took her the entire year to get comfortable with the speed of the game, the strength of the game, the physical play in the post. It took her the entire year. So I think having that year of experience under her belt will make her a little more comfortable and if she is a little more comfortable, a little more confident I think she will have more of a presence for us at both ends of the floor.
Q: Mia [Nickson] was elected captain without having every played a minute for you so far. What is it about her that makes her a leader in her teammate's eyes?
A: Consistency. Consistency is the biggest thing. You can count of Mia to do the right thing at the right time all the time. She is a great student; she is a great role model in that sense. She has a caring spirit and she looks out for her teammates and makes sure they are doing the right things and giving them the right advice. I just think she is somebody that they look up to and follow her lead in all areas. She just has a great spirit of serving and that is one of the reasons she was elected captain.
Q: Coach could you talk about how Renee's [Womack] physical therapy went last year and what she means to this team defensively and where she's at physically?
A: Her rehab went great. She is definitely getting back into the mix. She should be full-go by the time we start games. Right now she is back practicing, but she is kind of in and out as the knee is not all the way healed. So we do not want to wear her out too much now in October so she is sore by the end of the season, but she is doing fine and we are going to need her speed, her defensive intensity, and what she brings to us in that area, the transition area of the game; getting deflections, flying in for rebounds and being a defensive stopper for us.
Q: What are your thoughts on the Big Ten this year?
A: The Big Ten is going to be very competitive this year. Ohio State is going to be really tough. They return everybody; I believe they return their entire team, if not they certainly return their top eight players and they won the conference last year. I think Michigan State is going to be a tough team this year with who they bring back this year. I think Purdue is bringing everyone back. A team that got itself together during Big Ten play and Iowa returns everybody, the core of their team; a team that made is to the NCAA tournament last year. I think we have really good coaching in our conference and I think the Big Ten is going to be very competitive. I think it is going to be a fun race. Last year, I remember sitting up here saying the Big Ten was going to be competitive and nobody knows the order of the finish and I think it is going to be very similar this year. As conference play goes on, you could lose a game and drop five spots; you could win a game and jump five spots because the parity in the conference is right there.
Q: How did some of the younger players like Alex [Bentley] and Nikki [Greene] respond to the slide you went on last year and how much have they wanted to use that to get back and get off to a quick start?
A: For them it was a big learning experience. You have to understand for most of the high school kids coming in, they do not play basketball that long. We are looking at high school schedules now and most of these teams may not play their first game until after Thanksgiving. They do not even start practice until after Thanksgiving. We start October 4 and the season is going to go through March. That is a long season. For our kids last year like Alex and Nikki just understand how long is the season is helps them this year understand how much they have to rest themselves; the nutrition aspect, the hydration aspect, all those kinds of things. When you talk about having a young team, those are the kinds of things you can talk about, but they have to experience those things. So after the end of the season they were kind of like "Man, that was a long season." I think having that experience and again talking about Nikki Greene and Alex, who played every game, started every game for the most part last season, having that experience is going to be very valuable for them coming in to this season. They were kind of ticked off about it and they want to play better.
Q: What is it about this group that will allow you to play more of the style you want to play this season?
A: Well we are definitely more athletic at every position. That is one thing and we can be more creative and more aggressive defensively because we are more athletic. I think we can do some things a little more versatile. We have more players who can play multiple positions, so again, I think that will help us be more creative on the defensive end. I really think just the competitive nature of this team. Their competitiveness is just off the chart and that allows us to do a few more things, mix things up and keep the intensity level high in practice.