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UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 2, 2015Bobbie KelseyTHE MODERATOR: Head women's basketball coach, Bobbie Kelsey joins us. We will take an opening statement and take questions. COACH KELSEY: We are back from our trip. It was interesting with the weather, but we are pleased to have gotten the win yesterday over a tough Illinois team, having dropped three consecutive games before that. Back to our winning ways. Hopefully we can keep it going next week or this weekend with Iowa. They will be tough, but everybody is tough so we will have a few extra days to get ready for that game. It is a "Think Pink" game, big game for cancer awareness and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, so we are pleased to have that game be one that the crowd can get into, and it's for a good cause, as well. I will take any questions you may have. Sorry for my voice; it's pretty much gone. Q. Can you explain what's gotten into Nicole the past few games? Did you see a spark of aggressiveness sink in? COACH KELSEY: Yeah, whatever has gotten into her I would like to see sink into some of the others on the team. Nicole works on her shot. She is a perfectionist this way. She is a very good shooter, but it's not because she wants to be, it's because she works at it, and if you leave her alone, she can hurt you, and she can make the big shot and has made several big ones for us, and she has a knack for it. The momentum is on her side right now, and she has taken advantage of it. Q. Can you talk about Nicole's work ethic outside of practice? COACH KELSEY: Yeah, she came in a decent shooter from high school where she was on a very good high school team, but Nicole has a knack for shooting game‑like shots. Some kids will go in the gym and throw the ball around and they will say, "Coach, I shot for an hour." Well, yeah, you were in there an hour, but you didn't do much. Nicole doesn't take very much time to get her game‑like shots off. She works pretty much every day after practice. She will be shooting extra and she will come in before and have some of the guys rebound for her, some of our managers, and they know the routine, so they stick around and she grabs a ball and gets about 10 minutes worth of shots, randomly here and there. She doesn't do a lot of spot shooting, but she will go off the dribble, and if she makes it she will do another, if she misses, she will spot up for another. I don't ask too many questions; I notice she is doing it, and I encourage others to do the same. Q. A lot of teams in a lot of sports are doing the cancer fund raiser games, probably because most people have been impacted by cancer in one way or another. Do you care to share a story why this event is near and deer to your heart particularly? COACH KELSEY: Everybody in this room could probably name a relative or someone they know, unfortunately, that has been touched by cancer. I had an aunt who had breast cancer. Shelly on our team, her father, Roy Marble, everybody knows Roy's story with his cancer, so we could name several folks that have gone through it, and we like to say everybody makes it but we know that's not the case. So it's important to raise awareness, more awareness about it, and not just breast cancer but all cancers are terrible in and of themselves.  I know the men are doing a lot with the initiatives on their side, as well, and the women are tying to do the same. All year long we are trying to do our thing to support the Kay Yow Fund and try to do our part to hopefully get a cure one day, because you never know when we might be touched by it. I hope not, but you never know what's laying dormant in the body waiting to come out, so in the meantime we will do what we can to help. Q. Malayna had a big performance yesterday with 11 rebounds, just as many as Cassie. How have you seen her step up in the last few games? COACH KELSEY: Malayna is a smart kid. I will say, "Malayna, you have to use your left hand," and the next basket she is using her left hand, so she is very coachable, and she wants to be good, and maybe that's because her sister is good, makes good, and when we show highlights from last year, we will show highlights of the team we're going to play, it's always last year's highlights, so I think when she sees her sister out there and we're pumping it up, look at Mic, and Malayna is competitive, and she wants to show that she is a good post player as well. She didn't come in as highly touted as Michaela, so I think she has a chip on her shoulder to show she is capable of doing things people don't expect her to do. And we say, "Don't waist that 6‑4 frame. Don't play like you're 5‑8, play like you are 6‑4"! That's what she has been doing, and now we have a standard to hold her to, so if she gives us less, we can say, "Now Malayna, we've seen more, so give us more," and she will do it. She will give it to us, so she is very coachable. Q. As a head coach, do you believe that winning can be contagious, and is it difficult to keep up that drive with a week between games? COACH KELSEY: Winning can definitely be contagious, just like losing can be contagious, unfortunately. It gives you confidence, especially when you go on the road and get a win, I think that gives you more confidence, then maybe when you are at home. You kinda assume everybody is going to win at home, but on the road you are against their crowd, you're not in your cushy bed, and you are not eating homemade meals, that stuff that gives you a false sense of security, so to speak. I thought out team did really well in the game. More of those turnovers were just us trying to force stuff. I know Malayna is 6‑4, but she is not 7‑4, you can't just throw it up there and pray she catches it. You have to give her something she can come down there so the turnovers. The numbers are not indicative; we didn't need to have that many, just kids trying to make the home run play of the post to just the simple play. But winning can be very contagious, and we hope to keep it going this Sunday coming up, against Iowa. Q. What has the relationship been between the two sisters since Michaela got hurt? Does she play a role as a coach to her sister? COACH KELSEY: I'm sure she does. It's funny, because I asked ‑‑ when Mic was playing, I would say, "What's going on with Malayna?" She would say, "I told her, but she won't listen to me," So they go back and forth. But Malayna really depends on Mic; I think she looks up to her. They have a very good relationship as sisters, and they both want to be good, so the big sister is obviously going to coach up the little sister, but Malayna is two inches taller than Michaela, so it's like not in size, in age only. But Malayna does listen to her, and she will give her pointers. I will see her talking to her, and I think Malayna does depend on that, so it's nice to have Mic around. It's different coming from your sister, as opposed to your coach, as opposed to a teammate, or your mom or dad. I think any little bit can help her, and she takes it in, and there are some days when she probably doesn't want to hear it, but she knows Michaela has her best interests at heart, and she wants to do well for her. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Bobbie. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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