|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S MEDIA DAYOctober 16, 2014Joe McKeownCHICAGO, ILLINOIS THE MODERATOR: Joining us now at the podium is Northwestern head coach Joe McKeown. Coach, an opening statement. COACH MCKEOWN: I'm real excited right now to get going, probably like everybody. In a way it's like baseball spring training. You just want to get playing and returning five starters for the first time since I've been at Northwestern and two starters from the year before. So we call them the Magnificent Seven. We really have seven that have started, that played a lot of basketball for us. And it's just going to be fun. It's going to be fun. We're a fun team to watch. Trying to score a lot of points. Defensively we've got to get a lot better or else we'll give up a lot of points and really that's how we're looking at it this year. And we have some great young talent. Just an exciting team. Give me some gray hairs now and then but great attitude and great energy. Q. You talked about your seven players that have so much experience and as players, as players go through grow older or whatever, they get better. Do you have anybody on your team that has made a bigger jump, a bigger improvement than you would have expected? COACH MCKEOWN: I think we started three freshmen last year. So I think just the experience they got and Christen Inman, who was a high school All‑American from Texas, came in and started every game. Just had a great year. And I've watched her progress, and I think she's ready to step up. Obviously Nia Coffey, First‑Team All‑Big Ten as a freshman, which has never happened before at Northwestern. But I thought the progress that Christen Inman has shown me in maturity has impressed me so far. Q. One of your kids who was a starter the year before, Karly Roser is back okay this year, but not having her last year, did that inhibit maybe what you did last year and will she help you do a little more this year? COACH MCKEOWN: Yeah, Karly Roser was an All‑Big Ten player as a sophomore and sat out 90percent last year pretty much and then just really, just threw a curve ball on what we were trying to do, especially when you had a point guard that started every game. We brought her in as a freshman and gave her the ball and said by the time you're a senior you're going to be one of the best players in college basketball. And I think she's evolved. She had a great summer, played on the Canadian National Team, went overseas. And so I think that really helped her. And right now she's playing with a lot of confidence. She's one of the stop student student‑athletes in the country, pre‑med major. Her whole life is on a fast pace, high wire. So I'm really proud of her. She bounced back really strong. Q. With all the talent last year, the young talent in particular, there was a lot of talk about they have so much potential, so much potential. Moving from last year to this, what is the biggest area of focus that's going to get you from potential to powerhouse? COACH MCKEOWN: That's a great question. I think the biggest thing is to go from playing spectacular minutes to being consistent. And it's not an easy thing to do. We had some great games, great minutes. We had some highlight reels last year. But to be consistent now going into the sophomore junior year for a lot of our players, I think is the hardest thing. And over my years as a head coach, the teams that understand that, the teams that you built that foundation, now it's time, you know what it's like the last four minutes of a game, you know when you're down ten not to panic. You know you've been in these situations so let's take advantage of that experience. So I think just being consistent this year and trying to compete every day. Q. How does Nia Coffey go from that consistency that you want? COACH MCKEOWN: I'll tell you, her work ethic over, since the season ended has been incredible. And I think she's very, very humble. That's what I love about her. I've been fortunate enough to coach 20 or 30 professional players over the years. She has that skill and talent. She has that drive and she thinks she's the worst player in our team. So she has the humbleness and she wants to get better every day. I think when you have that, it makes my job a lot easier. She just wants to be a great player and more importantly she wants to be a great teammate. Q. (Off microphone)? COACH MCKEOWN: Hope not. If she's our worst player, we'd be pretty good. Q. You add two new teams to the league this year, and one of them jumps in as the preseason favorite to win the conference. What do you think of the additions of Rutgers and Maryland? COACH MCKEOWN: I think when the Big Ten added Nebraska, they came into women's basketball and were just an incredible‑‑ had a incredible run in the Big Ten, whether it's the players they brought in, the coaches, the fan support. I think that's added a lot to our league, and to bring in a program like Maryland coming off the Final Four and have won a National Championship. I was in Washington D.C. at George Washington for 20 years. I've played a lot against Maryland and understand their growth and their talent and what they've done. And of course being in the Atlantic Ten For 20 years and having great games with Rutgers and Vivian Stringer and NCAA Tournament games and championship games with Rutgers. I just have a great respect for both programs. So I think what will happen, which I guess will play itself out, I think we have one of the best if not the best leagues in college basketball in women's basketball right now. We certainly‑‑ with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers, I feel like as a conference we can go toe to toe with anybody. I know it will play itself out later. But when you've got 14 teams, it's going to be an interesting year. But they're both great programs and bring great tradition in women's basketball. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|