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NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR MEDIA CONFERENCEMarch 28, 2012Tara VanDerveerTHE MODERATOR: We're joined by Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer. We'll open up with a quick opening statement from Tara. COACH VANDERVEER: Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much. We're absolutely thrilled to be going to Denver. And we have worked hard all year. Our team is so excited and just want to thank everyone for all the work that you've done to make this all happen. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. I think one of the ESPN commentators indicated, when the brackets came out, that the team most likely to be successful against Baylor would be a team which had played Baylor during the season. You guys obviously are the only team that has not played Baylor this year. And I don't think any of your players have played against Baylor and Brittney Griner except for in high school, I guess. Do you think it's a big disadvantage for your players to have not seen a player like Brittney Griner during their careers at Stanford? COACH VANDERVEER: I don't agree with the commentators in that situation. I think one of the differences in women's basketball, we can bring a 6'8" guy to practice, and we have all year. We actually started it last year think we might play Baylor last year. What's most important is for us to focus on our team and what we do well and the excitement that our team has in playing against Baylor. So we're very excited. We're looking forward to the matchup. And I don't see it as a disadvantage at all. Q. This is only the second time in history that all four top seeds have made it. It's the first time that all four have won national titles. You've been to so many Final Fours, Tara, how does this field rank with the ones you've seen and participated in or observed as a spectator? COACH VANDERVEER: I don't think there's any, quote, underdog. You know, the committee did a great job with seeding the 1s. How often does that happen? Not very often, obviously. And we're just very excited about the field, very excited about playing in Denver and feel it's going to be a really strong field. Q. I wonder if you have a plan in place to handle the altitude? I know sometimes teams come in here, and if it's just one team it's not affecting them, but when you stay, teams in the past have talked about getting a little bit lethargic or tired. Do you have any plans as far as with practices and that, do you change anything? COACH VANDERVEER: You know, I think it was very helpful for our team to have played Colorado this year. Now, to play them at altitude, we played Utah and Colorado, and I was really pleasantly surprised that it was not an issue for our team. And you know I think that we will try to do the usual things of making sure we're hydrated and getting plenty of rest. And that's where maybe playing a deeper team, having a deeper rotation, will be helpful. And we're healthy right now, so we're excited about that. But I don't see it being an issue. Q. I'd like to ask a two‑part question about Kim. What most impresses you most about her as a coach and kind of a forceful personality; and, two, could you reflect on how she's been able to sort of take advantage as a player and a coach of the possibilities of the opportunities made available to women after pioneers like you and Pat fought those battles? COACH VANDERVEER: I'll start with the second part. Obviously, she's a beneficiary of Title IX and having the opportunity to play in a great program with Louisiana Tech. And I remember coaching against her. She's a fabulous athlete and playing in the Olympics and having that experience. I think what helped her as a coach in terms of her confidence and having played on the highest stage to be able to coach on the highest stage, as far as her coaching, she brings a tremendous amount of knowledge to the game and to her team and a competitiveness that is unmatched by or it's matched but it's not exceeded by anyone. She really‑‑ I think she has a passion for the game and is into it and excited about it and I think it's great for women's basketball. Q. Two‑part question about Toni Kokenis. One amusing, one straightforward. Could you talk about her improvement and her defensive skills? And the second part when she told you, as a musician yourself, when she told you she wanted to play in the band what was your feeling? COACH VANDERVEER: As far as playing in the band, that's just part of being at Stanford. She really is kind of a quintessential Stanford athlete in that it's not just about studying, it's not just about playing basketball, but really kind of Stanford's a smorgasbord and she's really taken in so many of the experiences. And I'm excited for her to be in the band. It gives her another social group and just a different outlet. Because she's in a very intense academic major being in human biology. As far as her defense goes, you know she has quickness, speed, anticipation skills. And I think some of that might be related to her playing soccer. And the hardest thing for me is to get her to use her hands because obviously you couldn't do that in soccer. She's really matured as a player, really working hard and having a great sophomore year for us. Q. Has her improvement mainly been on defense or offense? COACH VANDERVEER: I think it's been more her confidence. I think she's always been‑‑ her confidence and her experience, she's always been very quick and fast. She's always worked hard on the defensive end. But she just needed the experience of maybe last year and playing in the Final Four, playing this high level competition, and then this year she's able to really step in, be a starting guard for us. And her shooting, her passing, I think honestly she's even much better than her numbers show. I think she's a much better shooter than the numbers she's shooting. And she can guard anyone on the perimeter. So we're really excited about how well she's doing. Q. How did you get Neka and Chiney out of the Houston area to go to Stanford? Was that their decision all along that that's where they wanted to go? And the second part of my question was, how do the high school girls' talent in the state of Texas stack up to against other states, other parts of the country? COACH VANDERVEER: I think the competition in Texas is, it's phenomenal. I mean there's just so many great programs. And maybe women's basketball or girl's basketball in high school is what football is for boys. It's a premier sport, and there's so many great players and so many great coaches. I've always been so impressed with the coaching in high school that the young women come really with advanced fundamental skills and knowledge of the game. High basketball IQ, so to speak. But as far as Neka and Chiney coming to Stanford, Neka told me she knew she was coming for a long time, and I said: Why didn't you tell me, because I sweated it out. We watched Neka play as a young player. There really aren't many secret players out there with the scouting services and the AAU programs. You see the players. And I think really the decision to come to Stanford was a family decision and both of Neka's parents are very high on education and the quality of education that Neka would get and chin nay would get at Stanford fit the profile they were looking for academically and athletically for their children. Q. Do you recruit Texas hard? COACH VANDERVEER: We recruit anywhere hard that has great players that have great academics. So we try to really look at‑‑ and a lot of those Texas schools prepare students for Stanford. I think Texas might have the third‑most number of people at Stanford. California would be first, and Texas might be second. But California, Texas and New York. Q. What concerns you the most about Baylor? COACH VANDERVEER: They give you so many puzzles to solve. First, you're not used to playing against 6'8". How do you score? Second would be how do you defend 6'8". And then Baylor is a lot more than just Brittney Griner. They have Odyssey Sims, Na‑Na Hayden. They have perimeter shooters, rebounders, they have depth. They have a very experienced coach. So it's not one thing. It's probably many things. But that's what makes it so much fun and so exciting. Q. What do you think your squad does better than everyone else in the country? COACH VANDERVEER: You know, I think one of the things our team does is they really focus on a game plan. And when we really look at each team we play and try really hard to figure out what is going to give our team the best chance of being successful. And our team really can focus on a game plan and matchups and what we're looking for and maybe making adjustments in the game. And I also think that our team does a really good job of staying positive and not getting frustrated, just playing confidently and playing loose and having fun with each other. In order to win at this level you have to shoot well, rebound well and you have to play defense. You know you have to do that stuff. But I think this team has a lot of intangibles. They have great team camaraderie and energy and they're very unselfish. Q. You talk about, obviously, the Ogwumike sisters from Houston. But Amber is also from that area, and she doesn't have the Final Four experience that a lot of the other players have. How big a factor has their mentoring been for her? And also just the fact that both you and Connecticut are in five Final Fours in a row and what that says about the consistency of those two programs? COACH VANDERVEER: The question about Amber, she was inserted into our lineup in January, and basically we had some injuries early on in the season. One to Jasmine Camp, who was actually our starting point guard, and also to someone that probably would be our starting 3. So we just needed Amber to come along quicker, and I sat down with her. And she has just done a fabulous job for us running the point. She's played well on the big stage. When we needed her, too, she stepped up into the Pac‑12 tournament and the first rounds down in Virginia. I thought she played very well against Duke. There are things she could have done better, but I thought it was an absolutely great game for Amber. So we'll wait and see. And you're absolutely right. Chiney and Neka, I tell Amber you are Chiney and Neka's little sister; you're from Houston and you're a freshman and they need you and you need them. And they've done an outstanding job of mentoring Amber. Q. If you could speak to the fact that both you guys and UConn, goes back to 2008, you both made it to the Final Four five years in a row. COACH VANDERVEER: When I wake up in the morning, I'm like are we really doing this? It's so exciting. To me, it's so unbelievable because you go years and years without going and then now I just feel like I've hit the lottery. It's so exciting. I think a lot of the reason that we are going is because we play Tennessee and we play Connecticut, and we really try to play as tough a schedule preseason schedule as we can so we know what's out there and we know what we have to do to be here. Q. This is a little bit of a Connecticut question, but I wanted to, it's more far reaching than that. Tiffany Hayes, UConn's only senior, has really had an up‑and‑down season and up‑and‑down career and you've played Connecticut so often, during her career that you've seen her and planned against her. I'm wondering how she's always factored into your game plans along with all of UConn's All‑Americans? And, secondly, when you have a player like Tiffany that can play so well on some nights, score 30 in a half like she did against Holy Cross and score four the next night in a game, how do you approach that kind of a kid? COACH VANDERVEER: Well, first of all, congratulations to Connecticut. And we would love to be playing them again. And as far as like Tiffany goes, I think her experience, when you start out playing with players like Renee Montgomery. So I think that would be her freshman year in '09, you know, you're playing with just a plethora of talent. And so maybe you don't have to play well every night. In some ways maybe it might go a little unnoticed because you've got Maya Moore and Tina Charles and all these other great players. And as they graduated and as she becomes the leader and the, kind of the go‑to person on the team, you know maybe that wasn't her role or maybe that is her role. I don't know. We know that she's a real big key to their team and she put on a show, I think, in the first half against Notre Dame, I think it was actually the game in Hartford, not the tournament game. But we know what she's capable of. And I think everyone, all the coaches that get ready for Connecticut, you know, get ready for Tiffany Hayes's A game. And she's a terrific talent and part of a team that's gone to four Final Fours, which to me is amazing. Q. From a historical standpoint, how has Brittney Griner changed the women's game? COACH VANDERVEER: Well, you know, you don't have that‑‑ she's a big personality, along with she's got a big game. And she also brings some controversy. So I think it brings a lot of good attention to the women's game. People are paying attention to what's going on in Denver and kind of curiosity about her game and the matchup with maybe Neka and Brittney. So in some ways people could compare it to Kareem Abdul‑Jabbar or Lou Alcindor when he was at UCLA. She's a huge talent playing on a great team where she really just‑‑ she's put in kind of, moving the women's game up a notch. Q. The public and the media is focusing on the dunks. I know her game is so much more than that. But what has the dunk given the women's game through her? COACH VANDERVEER: Well, I think that the dunk in some ways has been used like against women, well, the women's game is somehow inferior because women don't dunk on a regular basis. But she gets right out there and dunks right off on inbound pass or dunks in transition. And so I think that the dunk is a little bit of a barrier. Not that I think‑‑ you can go through and watch the men's game you don't have a dunk in the whole game but it's a great became. And that's just something that I think she's brought attention to as much as anything else. Her blocks are as impressive as her dunks. Q. I've got a two‑parter for you. Do you think that you're going to have to get a lot of perimeter shooting from your guards and maybe that Neka would have to be able to hit that 15 to 17‑foot shot she's been able to hit this year, that that would be vital on Sunday? And, two, I seem to remember last year when you broke UConn's record that I seem to recall your game plan was to shut down Maya and let everybody else try to beat you. I wonder, is that something that changes every game or has that been kind of a philosophy of yours when you played against these powerful teams? COACH VANDERVEER: I think we do try to go after the best player and just I can't say it always works. But just to say, all right, hey, we've got to be aggressive, whether it's Maya, whether it's Brittney. Whether it's Elizabeth Williams, whoever you're playing, just say, hey, this is their best player, pay attention to her. Let's see what does she like to do? But I think everyone does that. No one's going to go into the game and say let's let Neka do what she likes to do. So I don't know if it's any different than what anyone else does. So as far as perimeter shots, I think that Brittney's length and shot blocking ability does change things. And you see it with every team that they play. But I don't think that we want‑‑ we don't want to be taken‑‑ we don't want to be taking shots that aren't good shots for us. So we have to make sure if we are taking perimeter shots that they're people that we want to take perimeter shots. But I don't think that you have to totally change everything you're doing based on that. But I do think you have to tweak things. We have to play within ourselves and doing the things that we do best. But be aware that our 5'5" guard can't just go in there with Brittney Griner in there and think they're going to get their shot up. Q. How has Amy Tucker kind of help shape what Stanford basketball is and what are the benefits of having the same person next to you for so many years? COACH VANDERVEER: Well, I watched the halftime with Chris Daly and Geno and really enjoyed that piece that was on ESPN. And a lot of‑‑ I think a lot of solid programs, whether it's Connecticut, whether it's Stanford, Tennessee, you know when you have someone with Amy's expertise‑‑ she has the winningest record at Stanford when she was at the head coach when I was gone. She has just tremendous skills. I think her eye for talent is amazing. Like she was the person that saw Jennifer Azzi for us, Sonja Henning and Val Whiting, and these great players when they're young players. And on top of that, she's someone that really works with our post players especially with Neka, with Chiney, with Joslyn Tinkle and Sara Booth; and for a long time that is a big strength to our game. She's a great teacher, great motivator, and someone that, when you have stability working with someone. And also I think this year for us we have a new assistant. She can show them the ropes. It's really easy‑‑ it's a lot easier for me. Q. Odyssey Sims obviously had a spectacular game in the last game. When you talk about Toni being able to defend anybody on the perimeter, is Odyssey not the kind of player that she would likely defend, or somebody quicker to defend that kind of penetrator? COACH VANDERVEER: That's who‑‑ she's going to have to guard one of them. Someone's going to have to guard Odyssey and someone's going to have to guard Hayden. I think Toni works really hard at defense. I think Amber's a good defender, too. So we'll look at the matchups and try to figure out what is better for our team. But obviously playing perimeter defense against the guards that are in the pool now, whether it's Skylar Diggins or Bria Hartley or Odyssey Sims, you've got to have the quickness and the kind of determination to match up with them. And we will have to work very hard to guard Odyssey Sims. Q. I had one question. It's a little away from the Final Four and it's on the Olympics. And I wanted to just get a sense from you: What kind of expectations do you think Geno and that team face in that is it the same that we expect from the men's team that nothing accept a gold medal is acceptable? We certainly have always heard that from the dream teams on the men's side. But I wonder when you were there how you approached it. Did you feel the pressure, the national pressure that only a gold medal was acceptable when it came to women's basketball? COACH VANDERVEER: I definitely felt it. And it was a great diet. I felt it every minute and I know Geno feels it every minute. It's something that we definitely expect that. We definitely have the talent to win it. But that doesn't always get it done. I mean, if you have injuries or just‑‑ it's a one‑game thing. It's not like the NBA four out of seven. There's no doubt that we can beat any country four out of seven. But this is not that kind of tournament. It's like the NCAA tournament. But I'm sure that Geno feels that type of pressure and how he compartmentalizes it or uses it to his advantage, I'm sure he does and motivating the team. But everyone‑‑ if it's the unspoken elephant in the room, everyone knows and everyone thinks we're going to win the gold medal and that's what we want, that's what he's basically hired to do and that's what I was hired to do. And when we met the president during the year or we met Supreme Court justices, they're like bring back the gold. Q. A question about this current Final Four, there's external perception‑‑ and probably true and fair‑‑ that Baylor is the favorite in this game over Stanford. And I wonder, do you use that with your own team? Do you address what‑‑ forget about what you believe but do you address what they might read and what others perceive to be in this game in that there's a team that's a favorite and there's a team that's an underdog? COACH VANDERVEER: We don't really get to be an underdog very often. So we're kind of enjoying it. Our team just‑‑ I don't even know sometimes if our team reads the newspaper or they're on the Internet, they're doing some things. But this doesn't‑‑ if it is, it's not like a big part of our conversation. It's not like‑‑ if it is a little chip on somebody's shoulder, it's little. But it's not like a big thing, like our team is so excited to be going to Denver. Our team is so excited to represent Stanford. Neka is like wow we get to play against Brittney and she's just like I've never played against her before. So she's looking forward to it. And we are, too. Q. You haven't had a dominant center yourself in the past, most recently with Jayne Appel. You know how important it is to have that other post player who plays well off of them. I'm wondering, in your scouting of Baylor, if you could talk about how well Destiny Williams has done that with Brittney Griner this year for Baylor? COACH VANDERVEER: You know, I think when you have an All‑American like Brittney Griner, a great player, to me the best players are ones that make others around them better. And she certainly makes Destiny Williams better and really all of her teammates. They're a great team without her. But with her they're spectacular. And you know the thing‑‑ like they really look different when she's not on the floor. And when she's out there, she really brings out the best, I think, in all of her teammates. She's really a spectacular player, just someone that is really special in the women's game. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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