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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 26, 2015Bobbie KelseyTHE MODERATOR: The women host Ohio State on Thursday. Head Women's Basketball Coach Bobbie Kelsey is here and will take questions. BOBBIE KELSEY: We are kind of down with our last three games, not finishing those last three out, but we've seen improvement from our kids. Turnovers are down, scoring is up, we just have to be able to close the game. It's not for lack of effort. We are looking for a third scorer, we have some guards that are picking it up for us, Nicole Bauman and Tessa Cichy and Dakota Whyte is coming along, too. They are the most improved scorers in the Big Ten games, so we are seeing some positives. Last couple of games we've gotten too many turnovers, that's down to 13 a game, but unfortunately we are not seeing the results in the win column, but I am pleased with the progress that we have made in the areas that have troubled us throughout the course of the season. I will take any questions that you have. Q. Would you say Tessa is a pleasant surprise or did you see this coming? BOBBIE KELSEY: You know, Tessa, to me, not necessarily a surprise. She has always had it in her. She is a very aggressive player, smart player, really understands the nuances of the game, not just what she is seeing but what she is not seeing, what's developing, what could happen. I see two little things over here, and she has a good mind for that. Her and Nicole play off each other; they kinda think alike. So it's not a surprise in the sense of her basketball ability, but, you know, she has had some rough goes here in the off‑season with personal things, and she has had to really just grow up and really become more of a leader for our team as opposed to just on the team. She has the capabilities and she has the toughness that we need out there. She'll guard anybody. She had to guard Powers last night, which is a tall order because she is not as big and probably not as strong as Powers, but she did a good job on her, and she is an All‑American‑type candidate. Tessa, we depend on her a lot. Some games she has played forty minutes and doesn't look tired at all, so she is doing the job for us, we just need a little more help. Q. Can you talk about the improved scoring?  You do have three of the best and most improved scorers in the Big Ten in Nicole, Tessa and Dakota. BOBBIE KELSEY: Yeah, those are our juniors on the team, and Shannon Malone as well, but she has been injured, but from a guard standpoint you need your guards always improving on their ball handling, their passing and their shooting and those three have really worked hard in the off‑season to improve on their shot selection. Nicole has improved her three's dramatically, her pull‑up jumper; Tessa is scoring on the block, really, for us, with the turn‑around so she is doing a good job for us and shooting three's, getting layups. She is doing a good job for us, and Dakota has come along with her ability to shoot a mid‑range shot. She is not a 3‑point shooter, necessarily, but with her ball handling ability she is able to create space and, therefore, allow her to pull up and hit the mid‑range. And we tried to get Kayla in that group because she can score as well, but her footwork is not there, as far as understanding when to pull up. She wants to get a layup, and coming from high school when really that's all you have to do because nobody can stop you because you're too quick, when you get to college that lane shuts down really fast, and she has had a struggle with trying to figure out how to get her footwork where she cannot travel but pull up on a dime, and she is still working on that, but those three have been very good for us. Q. You said after yesterday's game you need help in the post offensively. How do you go about get that go without forcing it? BOBBIE KELSEY: It's hard when you lose your best post player. Cassie is very capable. She showed in the game, Nebraska game and this game, that she can score in the block. I think the more confident she gets with seeing that ball actually go in and her making a post move. She'll do that more. Malayna had a nice couple of post moves; they have to just shoot the ball, put it down and turn and put their player in jail. That's what I call it when you put 'em underneath the basket; they can't block your shot. All you have to do is put it the off the backboard. That's what Zaui does. She doesn't have all these post moves; she just takes two dribbles, she moves you back, and she shoots the ball. Part of that is her aggressiveness. You have to be aggressive in the post. You can't, you know, mind being hit and banging down there, and for Cassie and Malayna, that's not something they really look for. Like Tessa seeks it out; they don't, but, again, they're capable, and we need that from them, because when you are 6‑4 and 6‑5, you gotta get down there and try to mix it up a little bit. I know they will. They will do it, they just have to continue to be confident in their ability to get the ball and put it in the basket. Q. Team has struggled with turnovers this season, but the last four games they're averaging about 13.5 turnovers. What has improved on this team in that area? BOBBIE KELSEY: I think just watching their play, watching‑‑ we did a breakdown of turnovers, and what other teams were getting off our turnovers, and that was a telling stat because when you put it on the paper together, they see that, wow, if we turn it over they're getting‑‑ we're giving points away, and you never want to help a team. It's like spotting them 20 points at the beginning of the game, you know? I think they saw that that wasn't helping our team. Then some of the turnovers were live‑ball turnovers, I always say you're going to throw it to the post player, throw it to the band, make sure the other team can't get it if you can't gauge how far to throw it. But we have cut down on the live‑ball turnovers leading to transition baskets and that's been quite a help. But if people move without the basketball, you don't have to turn it over because you have somebody to give you relief if you get stuck or trapped or something like that, so we have been working on that aspect of our offensive game. Q. As you look at the Big Ten, what do you think of the race and where you're positioned right now about halfway through? BOBBIE KELSEY: It's interesting because we're looking at it‑‑ I don't look at it that much, I take one game at a time, but when we do look at it, everybody is changing and shifting on a game‑by‑game basis. Every night it's a different kind of team; it's a great coach that you have to scheme against, it's great players, and just like Coach Ryan said, winning on the road is tough, let alone at home, and we lost last night by 6 points. That's a free‑throw and a box out. When you have a home crowd and a team, very talented players, it's going to be tough. With some lack of depth and that issue of scoring on the block, we struggle at times to get those wins, but I'm proud of the kids, they played really hard. Nicole showed she is a great scorer in our league, Tessa played well, Dakota played hard. We need one more person to give us a couple more points. Jacki, some of her shots were in were in thebasket and came out. It's just ‑‑ I told her, they are going to fall for you, because that's a kid that scored 30‑some points in a game, so we know she can score, but if we can get 'em all going at the same time, then we got something. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Bobbie. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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