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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 8, 2014Bobbie KelseyCOACH KELSEY: It's been a crazy week for us. The last time I was in here we had a loss, weren't feeling very good about ourselves. And we had a different kind of loss in the Miami game. Obviously we did not win that game, but we also lost our leading scorer and top rebounder, Michala Johnson, to an ACL. Quite devastated by that. The kids are very sad for her. But we showed some resilience and some toughness by coming out and playing Marquette and taking care of business in that game. We will definitely miss Michala. She's a big part of what we do. We depend on her. She was playing great. So this injury obviously we can't bubble wrap them. I always say that. But again her loss‑‑ we're going to feel it a little bit but I think the kids are encouraged by the fact that we did come out against Marquette and not just squeak out a win but we really had a definitive win and took care of some of the problems that we were seeing in our other game. So we're very happy about that. We just need to be consistent and keep that going. Q. You mentioned how the kids were down for Michala's sake but just general attitude with the losses and then having your leading scorer go down, how is the attitude from a positivity standpoint now? COACH KELSEY: The kids are encouraged. We ran our offense very well in the Marquette game. We didn't run it very well in the previous couple games. We were going against some really tough, quick competition that we don't normally see. When you have some guards out there that's trying to do a lot and handle the ball and we just‑‑ those games are going to help us. We don't like to lose them, but they really did help us to figure out how to take care of the ball a little bit better. And really work together, five people working together as opposed to one trying to do it themselves. You never want anybody to get hurt. But it's an opportunity for some other folks to get some more playing time. We have to make up her points in rebounds somewhere. So it's going to be a committee of folks. It's not going to be one person, then all of a sudden averaging 17 points. It usually does not work that way. So we are encouraged. And the kids are very positive. They cried and whatnot. We all shed a tear. I've had two ACLs. I know what it's like. But the schedule is still the schedule. You have to play your games and win them. I told them she would want us to play hard and to go out and prove that we're not a one‑person team. And I think we showed that on Saturday. Q. Do you plan to be even more up‑tempo now without Michala, do you have to be? COACH KELSEY: Nothing will change from that aspect. Mic ran the floor pretty well. Malayna runs it pretty well. Cassie runs it really well. We just need everybody busting out of there. If we get the rebound, get. Anybody can bring it because the offense is such that we don't have to have it in Dakota's hands. She's learning how to play without the ball. She loves to have it and we love her to have it. But when you don't have it get. Get moving. And that's where you're going to get the drives and the open paint to get in there. But when you get in there you can't charge. And we have had a couple of charges there. But we want to run no matter who is up there. We're going to run. Q. The injury to Michala and Cassie last year, since you've been here you've had a list of injuries. Do you think about if it weren't for bad luck you'd have none at all? COACH KELSEY: Well, sometimes. I have to laugh to keep from crying sometimes with these injuries. But, again, it's out of my control. It's like any other sport. I mean, all coaches can say you lose somebody to a freak‑‑ nobody hit Mic. She jump stopped. I mean kids jump stop a million times in their career and nothing happens. But unfortunately for her it just was her ACL. She didn't even think it was her ACL. So she has two. So you know what it feels like when you have one. We were optimistic that it wasn't. But it was a full tear of her graft. It's an opportunity, faith building time I called it. You've got to have faith and believe that you can still accomplish your goals no matter who is suited up. I asked the trainer who can play. I focus on who can play and not who can't play, because it gets you down. And you can become like, oh, can we do this. I'm saying, yes, we have enough in the room to get it done but we have to play a certain way to do that. But we still want to run, still want to take good quality shots. I always tell the kids if we're not getting a quality possession every time, then we gotta look at that. So it doesn't mean you make every shot but you get a good one and you get the best one you can. And that's what we've been concentrating on. And I think we could have 22 assists and shoot 50 some percent from the field and not jack up 27 3s and that kind of stuff. Q. You mentioned the team's reaction to her injury. But how is Michala doing with it? And you mentioned also that you've been through it before with ACLs. What did you tell her at that moment to try to deal with this? COACH KELSEY: We both had two. This is her third. I didn't play long enough to get another one. So I stopped. But some of it is how your body reacts to it. You just never know. You hope you don't tear it again. But it could happen. I think once she cried and got, was on her mom's shoulder, they got the emotion out about it, then it's like anything, you grieve for your knee but you can't do anything about it. So once you grieve, you're maybe a little angry at first, you cry and you say okay when is my surgery. And when can I get it repaired? So I think she's in that repair process now, is kind of accepting that it's happened. Nothing you can do about it. Let's move on to the solution. And we were all down about it. I didn't need to tell her anything because she's had two and I've had two as well. We're kind of in the same boat with that. But she's optimistic she can return. We're going to look at things as far as what her options are to return. She wants to return and we want her to. So we'll see at the end of the season if that's a possibility. Q. Siblings don't like to be compared to one another but can Malayna do and maybe pick up where Michala left off as far as rebounding and scoring? COACH KELSEY: I think she can. Malayna has not really touched her potential. The more she plays, the more confident she is. She's a strong kid. She's long. You saw her ability to block shots. With her and Cassie, we had 13 blocks. I don't think‑‑ and I've been in some big schools. I've never had a game where kids had 13 blocks. We didn't plan to do that. They just have good timing. They don't jump out of their stance and jump‑‑ Jacki had a couple, Cassie had five. Malayna had three. So as far as the scoring, they've got to do it by committee. But Malayna can do more out there. She doesn't know she can do it. She wasn't counted on in high school that much even though she was 6'5" and long. I don't know what the strategy in high school. But she wasn't utilized in my opinion the way she can be. So we're going to get her in positions where she can just turn and make a post move. She needs to rebound a little bit better. She's capable. Once she gets‑‑ it's almost like going off the high dive. You do it once, okay, I can do it again. I can do it again. So that's kind of for Malayna. She just needs that confidence. Unfortunately for her sister, her being out, it gives Malayna that opportunity to come in and really show what she can. It's time. It's sophomore year. It's time to come out of that shell. And I think she defers sometimes when she needs to be aggressive and really ask for the ball. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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