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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: BRIDGEPORTMarch 24, 2017Geno AuriemmaGabby WilliamsKia NurseBridgeport, Connecticut GENO AURIEMMA: I think at this time of the year, there really isn't a lot of statements you can make other than we're anxious to play. I think that's what -- everybody is probably feeling the same thing. We're just anxious to play. We talked about this weekend is a tough weekend, and everybody talks about the Final Four and how great it is to get to the Final Four and play in the Final Four and play for a National Championship. But this weekend is a tough weekend because it took a long time, took 12 months to get back to this spot, and could be over tomorrow at 4:00. I think everybody is just anxious to play. Q. For all the history that these two programs have in college basketball, them on the men's side and you on the women's, you haven't played them very much. But talk about what Cori has done there the last couple years and the history of the programs. GENO AURIEMMA: Yeah, I think this might be the third time -- the fourth time that we would have played, I believe. We played at UCLA in the 1998-'99 season. It was our third game of the year at Pauley Pavilion. And we played UCLA at our place, and then we played them at Mohegan two years ago. So this will be the fourth time. They had a rough stretch there from the time, '98-'99 to a couple years ago. They had some good teams, but not to the level that Cori has been able to get them to now. I always thought it could be pretty unique. I've always said whenever you're at a school that has a great tradition in men's basketball, it just sets itself up to be really, really good in women's basketball, if you want it to be, if you get the right coaches and the school is behind it 100 percent, which seems to be the case. And Cori has done a great job recruiting, which, it is UCLA; I don't think they're worried about shovelling anything in March. We're planning to play them again next year at their place, and hopefully we can keep it going. Q. What's Lou's identity these days? She came in as the three-point shooter, but she's had five assists in four of the last seven games. She's had five rebounds in like six games recently. What's her identity now? GENO AURIEMMA: How many rebounds? Five? All of them on purpose? (Laughter). You know, whenever you get a kid that can really make shots, you can't win making shots, obviously. Bruno and I talk about this all the time. It is called basketball. You've still got to put the ball in the basket. So whenever you get kids that can make shots, you've got something that's pretty special, obviously. Speaking from experience, having gone through this with my son, kids who can make a lot of shots early on in their careers, they're a handful to coach. Because if you're not careful, the world revolves around the next jump shot, and when Lou got here, that's kind of what the perception was. That was her reputation. She makes a lot of shots from a lot of different places. And whenever we get a kid like that, Kaleena was the same way, Diana was the same way, must be something in the water out there, you have to really impress upon them that there's so many other factors to basketball other than making shots, and once they discover all those things, they really -- they just take off because they start to see the beauty of the game in other areas other than just shooting it. We're nowhere near where we need to be with Lou in terms of the other stuff other than making shots. But she's way far removed from where she was when she got here in terms of wanting to be a better rebounder, wanting to be a better defender. She had seven steals one night. I mean, she would go months without getting seven steals. So she's trying to do things that add value to your team other than just shooting the ball, and obviously the tournament certainly reflects that. Q. You've probably seen this week, you became a viral sensation on the comments that you made last year at the Final Four about kids being me, me, me, and body language and stuff like that. And first part, are you happy -- it kicked off -- a lot of parents, I know, talking to their kids about that. Are you happy that that's engendered that kind of conversation? And the second part is LaVar Ball from UCLA's kids, he's become a lot of me, me, me himself, and I'm wondering can you compartmentalize him like Earl Woods and someone like that, or are you afraid that some parents will take the nod from him and start speaking like he will? GENO AURIEMMA: Well, I mean, I think I was responding to a question last year, and it had a lot to do with our philosophy of recruiting and what we're looking for and what we try to do. I know some people may have interpreted it as I'm complaining about today's kids. I'm not complaining about today's kids at all. What I was describing is something that's been going on for as long as they've played sports. I'm just -- I was just commenting on this is what I look for. This is what's important to us, and this is what I see, and it's been like that since I started coaching 40 years ago. The difference today is the advent of the social media gives more people more access to information, and it allows them to promote themselves a little bit more than in the past. Kids inherently want to be good teammates. I really believe that with all my heart. Most kids when they're on a team, I guarantee you, you go watch any seven-year-olds or eight-year-olds, they want to be good teammates. You watch them play. When they get a little bit older and they start having a little more success and then the parents get involved, they become not so great teammates because they're told a lot of times that you're not going to get anywhere unless you shine. So now back in the day, we had AAU tournaments. You had to win X number of games to qualify for the National Championship, and you played on your team, and you had to live in your state or whatever, your area, to play. And you played, and if you lost, you went home, and it was devastating, and that's Rebecca and Jamelle Elliot and Jen Rizzotti and Nykesha Sales, Megan Patterson, as far back as them. Well, that's changed. Now when kids go to these tournaments, they're not going there to win games. They're going there so that the coach can see them exhibit their skills, so this idea of winning for the weekend doesn't exist anymore. So it's not their fault. That's just the way it is. You know, I try, when we go recruiting, to identify those kids who still have a tremendous interest in being great teammates. We're not always successful. Believe me, I've had my share of guys that were really hard to coach for that reason, and you can trace it back generally to the parents, without question. You can trace it back to the parents. And to your second question, I don't know Mr. Ball. I don't know him at all. I enjoy watching his son play. And I would say that is he an exception to the rule? Yeah, because how many fathers have a kid that good? So he can do what he's doing and get away with it, which is fine. I mean, he's just being him, and the son is just being him. I root for the kid because I think he's a hell of a player, and I wouldn't want to be in his situation. I mean, I would next year when he signs, I'd want to be in his situation, but I wouldn't want to be that guy that every time he meets somebody the first thing they talk about is his father. I wouldn't want to be that guy, but that's just me. But I don't think you're going to see a lot of what you're seeing right now. You know, you mentioned Tiger's dad. I don't remember Tiger's dad being that out front like it is today because all these things didn't exist back then; so you can do it now, so people take advantage of it. But you'd better have a kid that can back it up when you start talking like that, and he probably does. He probably does. Q. Napheesa has talked a lot about this season about the confidence she has played with that's allowed her to make the jump from freshman to sophomore year, but if you look at her numbers, it's just consistent day after day, game after game. Can you talk about that consistency from practice to game for someone so young? And second part would be if there's one thing that has made her a finalist for three major awards as National Player of the Year, what would you say it is? GENO AURIEMMA: Well, I think you hit it right on the head: She's the same every day. So what you're seeing in every game is what she does every day in practice. Nothing ever changes. She's a lot like Maya Moore in that respect. From the day Maya Moore walked into practice the very first day until she graduated, she was the same every day. There were no bad days. There were no bad attitude days, there were no bad effort days. I mean, there are a lot of bad defensive days Napheesa has, don't get me wrong. She's still a work in progress in that area. But there's very few kids that come in right away and give you the kind of consistent effort that you're getting from Pheesa every day, from day one. Last year she just didn't have the confidence maybe or didn't pick up things as quickly as she's doing it now, and we had a couple guys that said, Pheesa, if you don't get it, you're not going to play much, and that's okay because we're going to win anyway. And now this year she's worked a little bit harder to get things. She's a better player. She did more things over the summer to get herself ready. And if you think about it, there may not be another player in the country that can do as many things on the offensive end as Pheesa can, and I don't care who they are going to talk about. She's not going to get national Player of the Year; I get that. But I'll tell you what, if I could only take one player in America on the offensive end, out of any other player that's playing college basketball today, and you'd say, check every box, what can't she do, I would take Pheesa over anybody in the country on the offensive end, and she does it every game. And she'll probably suck tomorrow. (Laughter). Q. This may not be central to your preparation, but I'm wondering if you could take me through how you decide who sits where on the bench, where coaches are sitting, how that decision is made for you, and if that's evolved through the years. GENO AURIEMMA: Well, through the years, it's always been -- since we've had this many full-time assistants, since we've had three full-time assistants, before that it was I'm on the end of the bench and Chris was sitting next to me. Now I'm two down because Shea and Marisa sit there, and CD sits to my right, and that's always been the case since we've had three full-timers. Where the players sit, I have no control over that. I just show up, and the very first game I look down the bench, and I go, okay, that's where these guys decided to sit. I don't move them around. Now, the young guys think if they sit closer to me, they're going to get in earlier. What they don't understand is when they sit closer to me, they get an earful, and sometimes by the end of their career they've moved down the bench. During timeouts, we have a certain seating order. I want there to be that consistency, so we put an X on one of the chairs, and that's where our guard will sit, and then we've got two on each side. But other than that, we're probably like everybody else. Q. The trio of Jordin Canada, Monique Billings, and Kari Korver, as you prepare for them, what do you see from those girls? GENO AURIEMMA: We were just watching some of them this morning, and they are really a unique bunch when you think about it because we -- I mean, I didn't get to see the Korver kid play much in high school at all. I don't know why, I just didn't. But I saw a lot of Jordin Canada and Monique Billings. I saw a lot of them, and I really, really loved them as high school players. And naturally we don't get to see them that much being out here, but their development coincides exactly with UCLA's growth. And it's pretty cool because they've got -- one kid can really shoot it, another one is great with the ball, and another one just goes and gets every rebound and is athletic as all get-out. So they've got a really good kind of -- pieces of the puzzle all kind of fit for them, and Cori does a really good job of giving them the kind of freedom that kids like that need to just play a little bit. She's not -- at least it doesn't appear to be, like one of these over- controlling coaches that's got the kids like that. The kids are kind of free to play and just be Cali, just kind of do their thing. I kind of like that. But I'm just glad we're not in our bracket and not in their bracket, because I'll tell you what, I wouldn't want to be in their bracket. They remind me of our '91 team. I watched them play the other day. There was about 10 minutes left -- eight minutes left in the game, and I remember saying, I think they're going to win. I couldn't believe it. And everybody in the place was going nuts. I thought, oh, my God, this is like 1991, replaying itself. And Trish, that potty-mouth coach of theirs, if I ever said some of the stuff that she said, I'd get crucified. I told her that, too. Catholic school girl like herself? She should be ashamed of herself. Q. Kia, this is for you because you've been shooting lights out. It's no secret that your family is super competitive between your brother in the NHL, you've got a sister playing hockey, your dad, your mom also playing college sports. Is that part of the reason why you're so good in the postseason, because of the competitiveness that you get from your family? KIA NURSE: I mean, competitive edge is definitely something that my family has naturally, and it's something that you have to have when you grow up in a house like that. And I think fortunately enough to have seen all of them succeed in their sports, and to have seen them do the best they can in their postseasons, I think you get that experience even though you're not there, kind of live vicariously through them. And they are people who are continually supportive, the people who are going to push you to be your best, and just trying to continue to fill the footsteps that they've left before me. Q. A lot of players in various sports get pestered by family and friends for gear, for shoes, for things like that. It's a little bit different situation for both of you because you both have so many family members who have played. I'm just wondering, is that an experience that each of you have, and more specifically, whether it's from family or friends? GABBY WILLIAMS: Yeah, I mean, my sister, my best friend from home, and then my niece's god-mom are all coming up, and I left a huge stack of clothes for them on my bed for when they arrive. They don't have the -- it's always nice to give back to everyone else. We do get a lot of stuff, and we're very lucky, so I love to give my stuff away. KIA NURSE: Yeah, I would say she's dead on, and it's always fun to have your family members decked out in UConn gear. Just walking around and seeing them and seeing the support that we have, not only from our amazing fans, but to be a part of that. Even if you walk around campus, everybody is in UConn gear, and I had a friend come up from Canada, and she said that's something that's so different. At the University campus, everybody is so into your school and your team spirit. We do have a lot of stuff. It's fun to have your family decked out in it, so if they ask, sometimes it's easy to just, here's a T-shirt. Q. What do you guys know about UCLA? I'm sure you've watched some film on them, but what's impressed you about what they've done so far this season? GABBY WILLIAMS: I think the thing that has impressed me the most is their transition offense, the way they're able to attack off a rebound, off of a defensive stop I think is a lot better than a lot of teams that we've faced so far. So we're just going to have to find a way to keep them -- slow them down basically and keep them off the offensive boards. KIA NURSE: Obviously they have a great floor general in Jordin Canada, and what she does, her ability to push the ball in transition, find open teammates, and keep them running, they kind of go as she goes. So I think obviously that's a tough match-up on the outside, especially with the shooting of Korver, as well. And then you have an inside match-up with Billings that's difficult. So to have those dimensions in a team, that's a big reason why you're in the Sweet 16 and you've been as successful as you are this season for UCLA. Q. Kia, obviously this team the last few years had a ton of people contributing, but the idea was that Stewie was the clear No. 1 scorer at the end of the day, someone who got the ball the most. It doesn't seem like there is that person on this team. It could be any one of four, five, six people. The change there, do you think it matters? Do you think that someone needs to be identified? The other night it was you, it's Katie Lou at different times. What do you think that impact has on this team, and does it matter? KIA NURSE: I mean, I think every team has a different identity, and the team this year is much different than the team that we had last year. I think for us personally, the ability to have five or six different people who can be the leading scorer one night or be the leading rebounder, to have an impact on the game every single time they go in there, it becomes much more difficult for teams to play against. To have that match-up nightmare that you have as apparently a center in Gabby, to have that, to have that dimension to our team is extremely important, and we're very fortunate to have it. Q. Gabby, just the extent to which you've been able to dominate on the defensive end, do you view that as your stock in trade, or do you see offense as a really significant part of what you're trying to bring on a night-to-night basis, as well? GABBY WILLIAMS: I think this team has a lot of offensive threats, so I kind of took it upon myself, and Kia does it, too, where we try to set the tempo defensively. I think my defense is a lot better than my offense, so I try to take pride in that, and yeah, I would say I try to make defense a big part of my identity. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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