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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 3, 2016Brandon SchneiderLawrence, Kansas COACH SCHNEIDER: I think we're just really excited about the opportunity to build on the momentum that we've built this summer, especially in regards to our trip to Europe. I was really happy with a lot of things that I saw, both with team improvement, but maybe most importantly with the individual improvement that our players made, in particular our freshmen. It's been said to me many times that we led the country in minutes played by freshmen last year, and it's nice to see those young guys really develop and make some significant progress in their game. Q. You did play a ton of freshmen last year. Which ones kind of made the biggest jump? COACH SCHNEIDER: I would say Jayde Christopher and Kylee Kopatich. Kylee spent a lot of time in the gym. She wasn't happy with her three-point percentage in particular a year ago. Now, that wasn't all her fault. She played way too many minutes last year. You know, for a player who needs to have their legs under them and that's really got the opportunity to be a prolific three-point shooter, a player doesn't want to hear that we gotta get your minutes down, but 37, 38 minutes is a lot of minutes for anybody in the country, but especially a freshman. So I think there's some situations that we can do a better job managing, hopefully now that we have a little bit more depth, managing her minutes. And then Jayde really didn't have a mid-range jump shot when she arrived on campus, and that's something that we've worked really, really hard with her to develop. She's so dynamic off the bounce and can get the ball in the lane. But last year she was a little bit of an all-or-nothing player when she got in there, whether it was dropping it off or finishing it at the rim, and I think now she understands, especially with the size in our league, the value of having a mid-range or a floater game, if you will. Q. What's the payoff this year of playing some of the freshmen? I know you don't want to have three or four on the floor at a time, but sophomore year, that experience. COACH SCHNEIDER: No. I think we started three freshmen and two sophomores a lot, and that's not really a recipe for success, in particular in the Big 12. So I do think that those are really valuable minutes that they gained, and they were thrown into the fire. I mean half our team was freshmen. We didn't have a lot of other options, but I am pleased with the progress that they've made. Q. What is the biggest challenge in bringing in somebody that's a transfer trying to get them into the system and to mold them into becoming players? COACH SCHNEIDER: Two of them were here all last year in Jessica Washington and McKenzie Calvert. So they spent the entire season last year kind of working in to things, but I thought they had really good summers, you know, the 10 practices that we had in August in preparation for that trip, so I feel like they have a lot of experience already, even though it's not on the court here in Allen Fieldhouse. And then in terms of the two front-line players, Sydney Umeri and Lisa Blair, it's going to take them some time. Sydney was not here all summer. She had an internship with Nike that is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and going to benefit her long beyond her basketball career, and we wanted to make sure she took advantage of that. And then Lisa was only here in July. So Lisa played a little bit in Europe, not a lot. And Sydney didn't play any. So October and November are going to be really big months for them. Q. Not just Jessica and McKenzie. (Indiscernible)? COACH SCHNEIDER: You know, the pace that we'll play with will be quite a bit different. When you talk about -- Jess is going to play some point guard, but I think we can move her off the ball a little bit, too. And then you talk about Jayde Christopher also being a point guard for us, the pace that they play with is much different than what we saw last year. I think you'll see us throw the ball ahead a little bit more, and they're just both really dynamic and fast with the ball and kind of can create not only their own shot, but create for others. McKenzie's been really scoring in a lot of different ways, and I'm hopeful that McKenzie may be, along with Aisia Robertson would be two of our better on-ball defenders. McKenzie's really got a little bit of that junkyard dog kind of mentality and can set the tone for your defense when you want to extend it. Q. (Indiscernible). COACH SCHNEIDER: I think so. There's no doubt. It's hard to go through that. You know, whether you're a coach or a player or a transfer who's sitting out, but those are things, learning experiences that we got through. And I'll say this. I thought we got a lot better in the last three weeks, and I have tremendous respect for our players in that they never quit. They continue to get better. You know, maybe our performance in the Big 12 tournament, whether it was with the win over TCU or -- you know, we're in the game in the fourth quarter with Texas. I think we're down eight in the fourth quarter. That's the number six team in the country. And I just thought we really showed a lot of progress down the stretch when, you know, a lot of teams in those situations would have tanked it long ago. Q. Did anyone impress you as a potential leader? COACH SCHNEIDER: You know, I have to go back to Europe because I'm just not here a lot in September, you know, with the recruiting calendar the way it is. But I do know that Jayde Christopher and Kylee have been really vocal. And then our seniors, Caelynn Manning-Allen and Jada Brown. I think Chayla Cheadle is another player. I don't know that right now we have just, hey, that's our leader. You know, I think we need to get into October practices and get into some situations where some guys have to earn that. Q. The news with Tyler is pretty tough. What's the biggest difficulty with her? COACH SCHNEIDER: Well, I mean we'll see how long she's out. She did lead our team in field goal percentage a year ago, and I thought -- I believe she started maybe the last six games a year ago. I'd have to look back at the stats. But she's a player that's got a chance to have a really good career here. But those are things that happen. Q. When you guys played last year, what did you learn most? Did anything surprise you (indiscernible)? COACH SCHNEIDER: No. I mean we knew kind of what we were getting into. And I think I probably sat here about this time last year and reminded everybody that 68 percent of the scoring graduated with Natalie Knight and Chelsea Gardner, who's a WNBA player draft pick, and Asia Boyd and on down the line. We knew it was going to be very difficult for us to score. And then that's compounded by the fact that we have so much youth and then a coach that's trying to get to really know his personnel and his players. And I think that's one area where we're a lot farther ahead this time -- this year than we were last just kind of knowing what we have and how we want to play and how those pieces fit together. Q. Talking about last year, going back to Jess and McKenzie, do you envision that they will help with that, like you said, just play making and what they're able to do? COACH SCHNEIDER: I sure hope so. I mean now, it doesn't matter who we have on our roster, we will always strive to be a program that can have four guys in double figures. I mean that's just how I think basketball should be played. You have to share the ball and you have to get it from a lot of different spots on the court. But those are two players -- for us to have the kind of turnaround that we aspire to, those two are going to have to be some of our better scorers, there's no question. Q. (Indiscernible) do you see that helping your recruiting at all? COACH SCHNEIDER: You know, we'll find out in November when signing day rolls around. I am really proud of our staff, not only with the caliber of player that we've been able to bring to campus, whether it be on official visits or unofficial visits. I'm also really excited about the homes that we've been able to get to and get in and talk about our program and our vision. There's lots of great things and lots of reasons that, you know, a young lady should consider coming here. And I don't know -- with the new apartments that are being built that our players are going to live in in the fall of 2018, I feel like we're covering all the bases. Q. (Indiscernible). COACH SCHNEIDER: The first two opponents -- well, the first two games, I should say, were against the same team, and that was the best team we played when we were over there. I think we won the first game by nine. And you have no idea -- there's no scouting report. It's basically, hey, you take 10, I got 11, whatever. And the next day we watched about 10 minutes of film. We talked about some matchups, and I think we won by 40 plus. So we were able to, you know, obviously be a little bit more prepared the second game. But there were two pros on that team and there were players that were on some of their younger national teams, under 20, under 19, under 18 national team. The next two opponents, they were more like exhibition games, if you will. But we moved the ball. We shared it. Every game we had four people or more in double figures. We shot it well, shot in the high 30s from 3 and shot over 50 percent from 2, and I thought we played really, really hard defensively. But the basketball, to me the practices were the most important part. But then just the travel and the chemistry and being around each other, you know, I think that's really, really something that's invaluable and something that you only get a chance to do once every four years. Q. Where do you think that chemistry is at now compared to last year? COACH SCHNEIDER: I think it's a lot better. Not only within the locker room, but I also think players to coaches, just because we've gotten to know each other. I think they know kind of what they're going to get from me and when I'm being serious and when I'm not. They took me pretty serious for a long time early in the year last year. And I just think that, you know, we've made a lot of progress in that area. One thing that's really important to me, I didn't have a house. I lived in an apartment all last year while our home was being built. So the team's not coming over and you're not doing all those activities that are really, really important to me. And now, since March that's been completely different, just from just here in town, the team building and the chemistry that we're able to do, whether it be the players, the staff, and we kind of have a place now. Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH SCHNEIDER: Well, they're over all the time. Whether we have recruits in town or whether they just want to swim or whether they just want my wife to cook them something to eat. That's what I grew up around. I'm a coach's kid, and my dad's players were over all the time. And whether we were at Emporia State or Stephen F. Austin, there's times I would go home and I didn't know players were going to be there. They'd text my wife and they're over hanging out, and that's great. We're always going to create that type of family atmosphere, you know, and I just think that that's something that was really missing last year, and that's part of taking over a new job. Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH SCHNEIDER: I would say yes, in some respects. Now, we did make some offensive changes late in the year that I thought really benefited us. You know, I'll use Caelynn Manning-Allen as an example. You know, I tried to make her a player that she's really not for a lot -- for several months, and we tried to pump it inside to her and have her be that back-to-the-basket player that you could go get a basket. And it just wasn't her. And we moved her up around the elbow and the high post and had her do some other things, and I thought she was a lot more comfortable. And you know, I think she really likes what we're doing. I like the spots that we're playing her in. She's more liable to make a 15-footer than she is a low post move and get you a basket, and that's okay. I just was a little bit stubborn in trying to make her into a player that she's just not. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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