	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 24, 2018

Suzy Merchant

East Lansing, Michigan

SUZY MERCHANT: Hi, everybody. Wow. It's like church. Hello? (Laughter). Welcome to Michigan State Women's Basketball, obviously, Media Day, and certainly Big Ten Media Week for women's basketball. Hard to believe it's here already. I see so many familiar faces. You guys know I'm not big on opening statements, that's for sure. So we'll get to some questions in a little bit. But I do want to say a few things. I'd like to recognize my staff that's here. Maria Fantanarosa is here, our recruiting coordinator; Alysiah Bond, our assistant coach; my associate head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, sorry. She's married and now has a baby to prove it. So Isaiah is not here. And then E. J. is here, I see in the back. E. J. is our new strength and conditioning coach for women's basketball. So we have a slew of people here that represent Michigan State Women's Basketball. So I want to say thank you for all you do for the program. And also I'd just like to talk about our team this year. That's what we're here for, obviously.

Really, really excited about this team. We have to stay healthy, knock on wood, double wood here. But that's always part of everything every season. But certainly this year's team is exciting. I know when you look at the roster you only see one senior, but we actually have seven players on our roster, seven of the 12 that have actually started in games, logged a lot of minutes. So even though we might look young with only one senior, I actually feel really, really good about the veterans on this team. Obviously Taryn, Shay, Jenna all started. Sidney Cooks started for us. Mardrekia Cook, before she got hurt, started for us. Coco Gaines started for us, and Nia Hollie even had to start for us and actually had started at different times and had to start for us at the point guard position when we lost all of our guards in that five-game stretch.

So I'm really excited about this team, what we have to offer our fans, and I've always believed in versatility. We've adjusted our offense a little bit to make sure that if somebody goes down, we can kind of flow a little bit better in those situations. So I've had to grow a little bit in the off season as a coach, and we have as a coaching staff as well. I think defensively has been a real focus for us. That's kind of been my thing. I've always put a tape in, a video in, a film in, and I always look at the defensive side of the ball first. I always want to try to figure out how do you stop someone, how do you slow them down, what is it that they do well, what do we have to take away. So I've really, really challenged myself and our team in the off season to adjust some things defensively to make sure that we kind of elevate our defensive side of the game in certain areas that maybe last year we were lacking.

So we have a challenging schedule. The Big Ten has gone from 16 to 18 games, so we get to beat up on each other even more. I'm not sure that's a good thing when you're in a league that's already pretty competitive. We'll be moving to the 18-game schedule this year. I think we've had 16-game schedules in 12 years. Is that right? Now we're back to the 18-game schedule. So we've played it before. Obviously it's a grind, it's a challenge. There's a lot that you have to prepare for and you have less maybe byes and whatnot. But I think we do a pretty good job of managing that.

Our nonconference play is really competitive. Last year we played Notre Dame and UConn, two pretty good teams. This year -- I don't even know if it's legal for me to say, but I'm going to say it anyway, so I guess if I get a violation, I apologize. But we're scrimmaging Notre Dame in a closed scrimmage coming up here on Friday. So to me, when I look at that, no better team -- we've scrimmaged Toledo in the past. I guess when you look at Notre Dame, no better team to kind of see where you're at than a team that just came off a national championship and has arguably First-Team WNBA draft picks. And it's a good challenge for us.

We're still battling some injuries. We still have some kids out, new kids with a lot of Achilles issues all of a sudden. Nobody's done everything as severe as what happened to Felton. But we're just being really, really cautious right now with some of these Achilles things that have been popping up. And some kids are coming off ACLs, some better than others. But we're excited about our freshman class. We have three freshmen that have come in. Two of the three have battled some injuries, to be honest, Kayla Belles from Michigan, our only Michigan kid, from Ithaca, has had some knee issues. She had an ACL, as you know last year. Probably maybe could have won Miss Basketball had she played her senior year in high school. I believe she would of. So she had a tough go of that. But now actually has to go back in here again on Friday and clean some things up, so it's been a struggle for her. I feel really, really bad for her, but I'm hopeful that we can kind of get her on the right path.

The other freshman that came from Buford, Georgia, in Tory Ozment, had mono. So she's back but obviously when you have mono and you're out for a couple of weeks, that takes its toll on your conditioning and that kind of thing. So she's just coming back.

And the other freshman that I think has probably been the most impactful so far has been Nia Clouden, freshman point guard from Maryland. She's as good as I've seen playing downhill than anybody I've put in a uniform since I've been here for sure. She is very, very talented. Plays a lot, to me, like a running back in football. She can change directions, change speed. She can take a hit. I mean she finishes. I'm really excited for her because I think in the past we haven't had that with some of the injuries we've had. So whenever you play downhill, really good things happen, opens up offensive rebounds, opens up opportunities for our post players, obviously opens up three-point shooting.

So we're really excited about those three freshmen and certainly Nia has probably the one that's probably been the most impactful right now, just because she's been healthy and been able to be out there on the court and her skill set is very strong.

So having said all that, I certainly will be happy to take questions and answer any questions you might have.

Q. Suzy, first of all, do you have an extra spot on the plane for Cancun?
SUZY MERCHANT: (Laughter). Sure. Right next to me.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how your, I guess, philosophy offensively has changed with the new rules? I mean obviously defensively, you know, basically you gotta keep your hands off everybody. But maybe how you've changed your philosophy as far as coaching offense to take advantage of the new rules?
SUZY MERCHANT: Well, I think the change for us in the off season was maybe less about the rules, to be honest, and more a little bit about for me just all the injuries we've had. I've always kind of been a little bit like Izzo, I guess, in some ways. You run to run. If you don't get your transition, you kind of call the plays, matchup, whatever, the set, the quick hit, and then obviously you can go into your late clock. And so we've just had so many injuries that I just kind of got a little frustrated. So I changed the offense where anybody can run it, so we can play with four people on the perimeter that can kind of run through, and it's a little more reads. It's definitely not motion. I'm definitely not a motion coach. But there is some principles to it that I think have some rules that the kids have really responded to, and I think it isolates certain kids. At the same time I think it puts people in advantageous positions to make good decisions.

So when I look at our offense, I think I'm just trying to do a better job as a coach to make sure if we do have somebody go down, which we have had a lot of here at Michigan State lately, that maybe we can flow a little bit better. It's just not as tragic where we're trying to make a 6'4 center and make them a point guard. And that's kind of what we had to do for about five games last year.

Q. What have you seen most for Shay Colley just being a leader of the team?
SUZY MERCHANT: Well, Shay is an incredible person, first and foremost. I think she just has a peace about her. I don't know if it's from Canada, because Kalisha Keane is on my staff, and I coached her for four years and she had a nice peace about her, too. She's just very calm, cool, collected all the time. That can be good sometimes, that can be bad sometimes, obviously. But I will tell you that I think her Canadian National experience, too. She just came back from that. She literally got on a plane the day after we played in March and came back the day before -- actually pulled into campus Midnight Madness night October 5th. So she hasn't done a lot with our team in the off season per se, but she's so skilled. She's talented. My biggest thing was getting her to play now with Taryn playing a little more off the ball with Clouden a little bit, so just kind of trying to kind of build chemistry and interchange those guys a little bit. But she's just such a natural leader because of how she plays. I always think it has to start there. You gotta have street cred to start bossing people around a little bit. So she's done a good job with that.

Q. Suzy, a couple of years ago it was how is this group going to respond without Aerial, and last year it was how is it going to respond without Tory. They don't have that problem this year besides maybe losing Taya. But have comfortable have you seen this group look so far having been able to stay intact?
SUZY MERCHANT: Yeah, we returned four of our top five scorers, which is positive, but you're right, Taya and Brandy both were 1,000-point scorers, logged a lot of minutes. Brandy was here for six years and Taya for two, so they were very effective for us.

I always like starting a basketball season for so many different reasons. One of them is you just have one kid graduate or one change and the dynamics of the team changes instantly. And just being build to mash and build and build that chemistry, I thought one of our greatest strengths was that we were very versatile. We played 9, 10 deep, which I don't normally do. This year we won't have that. We have some injuries and things like that. So I'm looking forward to kids now maybe elevating and stepping up.

It is kind of nice to have an Aerial or a Tory, as you mentioned because, game's on the line, you know who wants the ball. You know who you gotta draw the play up for. You certainly aren't going to use them very often as a decoy. So I think some of our issues a little bit last year were that we weren't sure who was going to be that go-to person. I thought Shay Colley really down the stretch kind of proved that she could be that one. So we're excited to move her in that role and being off the ball I think she'll be able to do some of that for us.

Q. (No microphone)?
SUZY MERCHANT: Yeah, I think so. I mean it's different. When Shay plays with Canadian basketball, she plays a lot of point guard, and here she really plays more off the ball. I think the positive thing about coming back to the U. S. and playing here is that you play night and night out against really good competition, obviously, and the second piece to that is your ability to kind of -- you play a lot more games in a short period of time. I think when you're with a national team it's like a week of real competition. Here it's like over months. So being able to show your durability, being able to show that you can be consistent night in, night out with the same intensity, same focus, same commitment, and I thought Aerial and Tory's probably best asset, I guess, was that I knew they were going to be a double double almost every night. Regardless of how they got there, somehow, some way they were going to get there. Sometimes the triple double. So the challenge for Shay is to stay consistent and I think as a leader in a role where she really started to elevate as that leader and that scorer down the stretch, that she continues that and just carries on throughout the season night in and night out.

Q. Suzy, you talked a little bit about some players maybe elevating. What have you kind of seen from Sidney as you hope to build off her freshman year?
SUZY MERCHANT: Yeah, I would like to say a lot, but Sid's a kid in a boot right now, so she's been out, and she practiced like twice maybe, two or three times. And then we put her in a boot and shut her down. She's one with an Achilles issue right now. It's not torn. There's no surgery or anything needed. But we're just being cautious. So hard for me to say.

I do know in the off season this summer she really, really worked on her ability to handle the ball. I think a lot of people kind of got up in her space somewhat. We played her at the four a lot. So people really challenged her ability to handle the ball and make decisions, so she's really worked on that in the off season before we kind of had to substitute her down here.

The thing about Sid is she really wants to be good. She's got that drive, that edginess to her a little bit. So that's exciting. I think once she gets back, certainly it's a progression, and that's the problem. I mean hopefully today she can do a little quarter-court stuff. She hasn't run up and down the floor in a few weeks. It's been tough on her, I know, but I expect her to have a really, really good season. It just might not start when our season starts. Might have to build her into that.

Q. Suzy, seems like after you lost Mardrekia that that was a piece that really helped the team. Talk about how much of a difference she can make as far as getting to the rack and drawing fouls and creating that situation where people are focusing on her and things open up.
SUZY MERCHANT: Yeah. Well, Dreek, man, I feel bad for her in a lot of ways. Her freshman year she played, but she had that compartmental syndrome. Really we couldn't run her. We couldn't really get her in the west physical condition to play and log minutes. I think they let me play her eight, ten minutes max a game. Then last year she really came on like gangbusters, I thought, really did well, and then obviously went down with an ACL. So she really spent a lot of time working on her outside shot because basically that's one thing the kid could do, and that's the one piece I would say she had to work on. I think that kid is a pro. I really do. If she really dove in, dissected her game, spent time in the gym, got herself healthy, she's got all the power, the speed. I mean she can put people on her back and take them with her. She's as powerful of a kid as I've coached since Aerial, and I think she's really worked on her pull-up game and her three-point shot. Just like Aerial, Aerial wasn't good at shooting threes until she really committed to it.

So I think Dreek's done that in the offseason. Now we just gotta get her healthy. She's still kind of not 100 percent yet. So that's been a little bit of an issue and a frustration for her. So for me with Dreek, I love Dreek's game. I think she's an absolute -- I think she's a first-team all-conference player. I think she can be. We just gotta get her healthy and keep her spirits up as she's trying to battle some of the frustrations that go with coming off an ACL and some of her lower leg injuries.

Q. My followup on that is leadership wise, you talked about Shay maybe not being as vocal and maybe even not Jenna being as vocal. But how much do you need out of that trio for them to kind of -- because, you know, Tory and Aerial could get up in you when needed. But how much do you need somebody out of that trio to kind of get up into players as far as motivation and critique and to kind of get them going?
SUZY MERCHANT: Yeah. I think the fact that those three are very well respected and I would put Taryn in that group, but you're right. Those are very quiet kids in terms. But I think when you step from the sideline on to the court, you just have to change personalities. You just have to. And when you're in a leadership role, you just have to be the face your team needs to see. It might be that. It might be getting up in you. It might be someone getting up and getting emotional that normally doesn't. It might be pulling a kid off to the side and maybe doing it in a different kind of way.

I think all three of them are really capable of doing those things, but as far as the chest bumping, high-fiving type personality you're talking about, a little be interesting to kind of see. I think Dreek has a lot of that in her but right now she's so kind of focused, and she should be, on trying to get herself right. And we have some other kids that I think really contribute. I think Nia Hollie does a really, really good job of that. In practice every day she's constantly talking. She's got great personality. Her and Coco really can be those two kids for us. And they bring a lot of energy in the way they play and they have fun doing it.

So I think those kids can really kind of help the situation, because Clouden is going to play. She's going to play a lot to me right now. And if you think Shay and Taryn are quiet, wait till you meet Nia Clouden. I think it definitely has to come from that group. Those captains gotta step outside themselves a little bit.

Now, the one thing I'll say about Clouden is she definitely has a commanding presence, though, as a point guard. She's not quiet when she calls a play. But she's not a rah-rah kid. You can't tell if she made the opening basket or the game winner. She's got ice in her veins, and it's a great quality to have, obviously, and she's just taking it all in. But I've been super impressed with her ability to play at this pace and run a team the way she's run a team at that position, her and Taryn both.

Q. It's a new year for you, and you said you're excited, but you gotta stay healthy. So a little reserved, but just how excited are you to get another year going?
SUZY MERCHANT: Yeah, it's the best time of year. Still got football going, obviously. We're about to ramp up. I don't know. Ask me that Friday after we scrimmage. Ask me that same question. But I do love this team. I really do. I think they have a lot of really good pieces. I think some of the changes we've made have been positive and now it's just about implementing, staying the course. It's a journey, it's not a sprint. Right? It's a marathon in basketball; it's a long season, so making sure we have good balance out there and getting ourselves to be the best team we can be is the best thing I do all year for sure.

Q. How do you make Taryn shoot more? I know you've been screaming at her at some point.
SUZY MERCHANT: Screaming at her?

Q. Sometimes she just won't shoot, though. She just won't take it to the basket. She won't shoot. How do you get her to that point?
SUZY MERCHANT: She's shooting it now. She's working on playing more downhill, too, to be honest. But I will tell you that having Clouden and Shay and Dreek around when they drive and clap she's naturally getting more shots. I think she's ready to step up there.

I mean to her defense, her freshman year, I mean you have a very dominant, aggressive first-team all-conference all-time leading scorer that you're throwing it up to, you're going to find that kid 24/7. That's her job as a freshman. I think last year her and Shay really played well together and played well off of each other. And Taryn is ready to step up and when you're a junior it's time and I think she's really worked on her ability to knock that shot down. I make them make 200 threes a day outside of practice, so they're basically give or take shooting a thousand shots a week and that kid consistently is over 80 percent. It's just on a gun, there's no defending, but still, shooting 80 percent, 82 percent, 84 percent from the arc.

So one, she's going to be helped by the downhill play we have, but two, I think it's our responsibility, too, to make sure she knows she has the green light and to get her some more shots off double stags and flares and pindowns and some decoy stuff to kind of create that opportunity for her.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297