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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: BRIDGEPORTMarch 27, 2017Kelly GravesSabrina IonescuRuthy HebardMaite CazorlaBridgeport, Connecticut UConn - 90, Oregon - 52 KELLY GRAVES: I first want to congratulate coach Auriemma on a great game and a great season so far. First chance I've ever had to play UConn and kind of see up close exactly what they're about, how they play, and I'm not going to make many headlines with this, but they're really, really good. I think we had our team ready. Our team was confident going in. I just don't think we were able to handle that that early, I think just kind of the shock of how good they are, and got us on our heels quickly. I thought we kind of rebounded a little bit in the second quarter, and again, in the third quarter just unfortunately the turnovers doomed us right from the get-go, and that defensive pressure I think really set the tone. I do want to say that I'm really proud of my team. I don't think anybody saw this happening. But what I talked to them about after the game is this is where we want to get to. I just -- you know, they've given us so much this year. They've worked so hard. Our chemistry is phenomenal. We just made two trips to the East Coast back-to-back with finals in between, and not once did anybody on my team ever complain. They didn't complain about an 8:30 a.m. start on Saturday our time, and they just gave it everything we had, that they had. Just really proud of their effort. I'm happy for our seniors to be able to leave a legacy to the University of Oregon and do something that our University has never done in women's basketball. I think there are only good things ahead, and I look forward to that. Q. Sabrina, an awful lot of talk is made of UConn's offense, but can you talk about how frustrating it can be to play that defense? SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, they're a great offensive team. They don't really beat themselves. They don't turn the ball over, and they have weapons everywhere, so it's definitely hard to play defensively, so we're going to work on it and get better. Q. Sabrina, curious, you had spoken throughout this time about not knowing what you didn't know, and I'm wondering when you sort of take the totality of this experience in the NCAA Tournament now start to finish, do you feel like you have a measuring stick for where you want this team to get to over the next three years? SABRINA IONESCU: I mean, I definitely think now we have a feel for it, especially playing these last two weeks into March. I think we're just going to be excited come next year to see what we're going to reach. I think sky's the limit for us next year as we continue to get better and work together. Q. Maite, 22 turnovers led to 32 points. Can you talk about what they were doing defensively to turn you guys over? MAITE CAZORLA: They were pressuring us. They were denying us all passing lanes. I think it was just our mistake. We didn't come to get the ball. We just was standing there waiting for the ball to come to us. I think it was the pressure. Q. Ruthy, from the tempo heroics at the end to tonight's disappointment but yet getting the opportunity to go against UConn, what did you learn about your game during this tournament, and what will you work on this off-season? RUTHY HEBARD: We got to go against UConn and everybody in this tournament, I think we all learned a lot. I definitely learned what I need to work on, the strength in my left hand and getting an outside shot for sure. I'm going to work on it in the off-season. Q. Sabrina, I'm curious what's going through your head right now and just this run; obviously you guys came from a long ways away, all the way across the country. SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, we're obviously going to learn from this loss. I think you have to learn from every loss, but we're going to put it behind us and just enjoy this experience. It doesn't come around often, and we sure didn't expect it to come around this soon. So I think we're all just enjoying the moment and definitely living in the moment and not trying to worry too much about what happens. Q. Sabrina, a lot of players when they're playing UConn and down by a lot look defeated. You didn't look defeated at any time. In fact, you came out and started the second half, were joking with your teammates. I wonder if you could take me through what you were saying to them at that time and just in general how you managed to stay so positive throughout. SABRINA IONESCU: Well, I know we talked about it in the locker room and we were in there trying to figure out ways to fix our mistakes, and then I said, guys, we should just live in this moment. It doesn't come around often, and just enjoy it. Enjoy playing against the No. 1 team in the country, and we're going to try and do what they do because I think we can become the next UConn here at Oregon. So then, yeah, we were joking around. We were obviously taking it seriously, but I was just enjoying the moment to be honest. I think it was really fun. The atmosphere was great, and playing against them is something that we'd like to do more often and definitely learn from what they do there. Q. Ruthy, how is it tough to guard the perimeter with Katie Lou, Gabby and Napheesa? How difficult was it for you tonight? RUTHY HEBARD: It's definitely tough. We're used to big post players and they're a smaller team, more athletic, so we definitely used the scout and we were prepared for it, and I think it'll be something we work on, too, for the post to get faster and get used to playing inside and out. Q. Maite, I know you pride yourself on defense. What kind of things did you learn about the defensive game from UConn that you might be able to steal something here or there? MAITE CAZORLA: I think they're a really good defensive team more than offensive. I think we need to learn from them. They don't make mistakes, neither offensive or defensive, so I think that's one thing I take away from them. Q. Sabrina, I wonder what it was like for you to see Jacinta and Mar'Shay get to go out there and just have a couple of minutes on the court and kind of have their college careers and be able to play in the NCAA Tournament? SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, well, they mean so much to our team and our program since the beginning. They've kind of carried us and definitely guided us through this whole journey that we had. So I think they enjoyed there time there at the end, just being with us and playing those last minutes, and their presence will definitely last forever in this program. Q. You mentioned trying to become the next UConn. What do you think it will take to close that gap that you had tonight? Is it just more experience, or is it an attitude? What do you think separates them from the pack? SABRINA IONESCU: Well, I think it's going to be a little of everything. Experience is definitely going to help, especially now that we are a young group. I think seeing what it's like, and we have to hold ourselves to a different standard. They hold themselves to a different standard. They don't beat themselves, and I think come next year and the years following, we're going to start holding ourselves to a different standard and not beating ourselves, either. Q. Kelly, you talked a little bit about it, but just put in perspective what this run will do for you guys moving forward? With so many young talented players I've got to think the future is bright for the Ducks. KELLY GRAVES: No doubt. No doubt. This is all part of the process. I thought Geno put it really good the other day when he said they don't know that they're not supposed to come in and just beat people like we are. But guys, our last three weeks of the season we beat Washington who was a 3 seed, we beat Maryland, a 3 seed, we won at Duke, a 2 seed, lost to Stanford, who's going -- we've played three of the Final Four teams. I just think all of this is part of the process, part of the growing up. I think a run like this will make it easier to motivate our team in the off-season. Hey, we got a taste of it, we see what it's like, we want to go back. One of our goals will be to host the first and second round so we don't have to make two trips cross country. We traveled over 6,000 miles for this tournament. All those things will, I think, really help us, and obviously gives these guys confidence, that they can win in the tournament. Q. I imagine it was impossible to simulate what UConn does, especially in one day's practice. What was it like going against them? What did you learn about playing them that you didn't know just watching them from afar? KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, you know, you watch them on film and you see, hey, we can do this and we can do that. But I think the speed of the game. They just play so fast. And when you're trying to -- especially when you're a young team, and I don't want to use youth as an excuse. This is our 37th game. But when you're trying to process that, it takes some time, and it's got to be more of a -- just a natural reaction instead of a thought process, and we were thinking, you know, and therefore -- it looks like a post player is open inside and you want to make that pass, and before you know it, Gabby Williams, a tremendous athlete, steals the interior pass. You know, it's just -- that stuff is tough, and then once it gets rolling, you know, they become even better. But I think the student-athletes said it great; they don't beat themselves. They play both ends of the floor, and they play for 40 minutes. So we played them in stretches fairly well, but not -- obviously not for 40 minutes, and you just can't have those let-ups because that 10-0 run in a minute and a half crushes you, and then you try to dig out of it, and then, bam, it's another 10-0 run. We'll learn from it. We'll get better. I think, like I said, it's all part of the process. Q. When Collier and Williams come out and start making some perimeter shots, run me through how that changes how you have to try to defend them. KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, we went with kind of our two big kids. We were hoping that we could at least punish them at our end, offensive end by getting the ball inside and we didn't do a great job of it. We knew we were going to give up something at the other end, and Gabby Williams has shown at times that maybe she's got as comfortable shooting that 17-footer as she was tonight, and it was -- you've got to kind of give up something. I think when you're maybe not quite as good, you have to kind of pick your poison. That was one we picked. We chose wrong. Those kids did a great job. They're just great players. They really are. I think that set the tone for them. And shooting is contagious, good shooting and bad shooting, and once she started making them, it seemed like Saniya was making them, and I thought we did a good job on Katie Lou and Kia for the most part, but those two did a heck of a job. Q. I'm curious what you did to stop the turnovers in the second half. KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, took a deep breath. That helped. I had to joke with them a little bit. You know, listen, the first half, it was, I think, 28 to whatever in points off turnovers, 28-6, so we're down 25, and 22 of those were from the margin in points off turnovers. We just said, man, if we could just not throw it to them, just throw it to us, we might be a lot better. Plus we went to a little more high-low stuff in the second half, kind of changed our approach, got away from a lot of ball screens, and I think that helped, too. But like anything, you settle down and adjust. Q. You talked about this earlier, but it seemed like you let Gabby and Napheesa to a degree take those mid-range jumpers. Do you think that's the best way teams have a shot at beating UConn, and if not, what can teams do to have a shot? KELLY GRAVES: Well, we didn't mean to give them that much room. I think our freshmen centers, both of them, got a little gun shy, didn't want to get too close because Gabby did beat them off the dribble a couple times. Going in, we wanted to do two things: Eliminate catch-and-shoot threes, and eliminate lay-ups. You know, if they were going to make -- if Gabby was going to make 17-footers and Napheesa was going to make those shots, hey, you know, all the more power to them. But those are the two things that we needed to take away in our opinion, and that's just our opinion. We had one day to prepare for the. If I was in their league, maybe I'd have a whole different approach, but you try to cram in as much as you can for that test, and it didn't work out tonight. Q. I couldn't help but notice there was a lot of giggling on the dais when Sabrina was asked how she was handling the composure, or keeping her composure. Wanted to talk a little bit about how much of that was a discussion letting Maite handle the ball and getting Sabrina off the ball versus just kind of necessity of what UConn was doing. KELLY GRAVES: Well, I thought they did a great job of taking Sabrina out the best they could. I mean, she worked hard just to get catches, and we didn't do a great job of setting very good screens, or she didn't do a great job of using those screens, and they just do a good job of blowing them up. It's tough to get good looks against them. And I'm glad that a couple of the reporters, that they mentioned this. I think everybody talks about their offense. I've always felt what sets them apart from everybody else is the defense. They give you nothing, and we've been a really good offensive team. I think we're one of the more efficient teams in the country, and we were playing on our heels all night long, and it was survival mode at times. To me, that's what really sets their program apart. Q. With their defense, what makes them so good? Is it just the athleticism and ability to switch or the intensity with which they play? KELLY GRAVES: C, all of the above. You know? It truly is, great athletes. They're interchangeable, so they switch screens, and we don't see a lot of that. It's hard to take advantage of that stuff. There were times when Saniya and Dangerfield were on our posts and we tried to roll them down, but there's so much pressure on the ball that it's hard to see them, and I think they're just well skilled. I know Coach challenges them each and every day. I know how he operates and how he coaches, and they just get better, and it's part of the culture, and that's the area where we've got to continue to improve. You know, it's defense like that is a culture-based deal, and you don't build that in one or two years. That's longevity, and that's kids coming in as freshmen and getting broken down and saying, this is how we do it. I coached Morgan Tuck and Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson two years with USA Basketball. I got to know those kids, and I know what they went through as young kids, and that's how you get better. It's how you get better. And so, yeah, they just -- professionally as a coach, I was glad to play them, you know, because it helped me be a better coach. I know it will help my players be better players. Q. Throughout this run you guys talked about playing these four games without a lot of pressure on yourselves and getting this far. Are you looking forward to seeing how this group which is pretty much all coming back improves and handles expectations next year? KELLY GRAVES: No doubt. No doubt. I can't wait, actually. I can't wait. I think this is going to be a fun group to watch mature, and like I said, I truly believe from the bottom of my heart that we can be the kind of program that can be in this position and perhaps beyond year in and year out. That's our goal. Whether that happens, I know it's fragile, these tournaments, there's a lot of really good programs that never get to a Final Four, never win a National Championship, but that's why I left my former school. You know, I want to be on this kind of stage and have a chance, and I think we have the makeup, we have the resources, we have the University brand, we have everything, and now we have really, really good student-athletes to be able to make that a reality in the future. In the meantime, I wish coach Geno the best. I do have to give a shout-out to the Pac-12 and Stanford and tell Coach Vanderveer that I'm really happy for her and her team. They earned it, and we wish them the best in the Final Four, too. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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