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BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2008Bonnie HenricksonLachelda JacobsDanielle McCrayKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI THE MODERATOR: Coach Bonnie Henrickson has joined us at the table, so we'll let you tell us your thoughts about tonight's game and take your questions. COACH HENRICKSON: Obviously we were horrendous in defensive transition and made them shoot layups to get such a big lead. We got it to 8, and in the locker room we said we have been awful in transition and it's a 12-point game and tried to cut it to 8, which we did. Then we didn't have sustained effort after that, and we just really -- I'll have to go back and look at it. There seemed to be confusion, and I'll take the hit for that about how we were going to guard in transition. The difference in our game today is they walked it up more, didn't push it much in transition, and we didn't respond and get back and get underneath Riley. We gave her the lane. I kept telling the guard she could roll back to the rim and not hit anybody. We were on her side, didn't stay underneath her. And when she looked at us, she could see the rim still, and that's a kid who gets the rim and makes the play. And because she can shoot the 3's, she's harder to guard. All the kids that can do both of those are harder to guard. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student athletes? Q. How demoralizing was it when they were getting so many open layups, that they either went around a guard or were penetrating? LACHELDA JACOBS: It was frustrating. They were getting the layups, and we tried to take the lead and came back early in the second half and tried to make a run, but didn't sustain it through the second half. Q. You cut it to 8, and Danielle, you and Krysten had your fourth foul and had to go out. What was it like to sit there and watch them put the game out of reach? DANIELLE MCCRAY: It was frustrating picking up the fouls early and coming out of the game and watching on the sidelines. I've got to be smart about what I'm doing and try to stay in the game. It was very frustrating sitting on the bench when we were trying to cut the lead and couldn't sustain that. Q. Danielle, were you surprised how much more of a transition team they were in this game than they were when you played them in Lawrence? DANIELLE MCCRAY: Not at all. We knew they were going to crash the boards, and they push the ball in transition every game that they play. We just kind of got confused on our match-ups in transition and gave them open layups, but I wasn't nowhere near where I needed to be. Q. The fact that you played yesterday, was there any fatigue involved? DANIELLE MCCRAY: Not at all. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the coach. Q. Coach, were you concerned about the opportunity to be the spoiler? COACH HENRICKSON: We talked about that with the kids, our opportunity to be a spoiler, but you couldn't loose sight that they wanted revenge, both teams would be playing with a lot of emotion and energy, and we communicated that to them, but I realized that. It's not why we don't guard in transition and it's not why we let them have layups. I'm sure that was all over the pregame, and we would be doing the same thing if the tables were turned. Q. Can you talk about how -- a lot of the things that led to losses all year, like you recall foul trouble for Boogaard and McCray, can you talk about that? COACH HENRICKSON: It's hard to look at that and come up with a word better than "undisciplined." Danielle is undisciplined defensively, and she reaches and fouls and doesn't play good defensive position. They picked on her, and most of her time is spent on the perimeter. She has to work at not getting caught up in being hooked, and whatever her reason is for picking up the foul. I think it's a lack of discipline for us to turn it over on the offensive end. I'm sure when you watch it live -- I'm not sure what you saw. I bet it's worse when you can watch it on film and pause it. We've got to be better decision-makers in passing lanes, angles, using our dribble to improve the angle and getting it to the rim. We spent too much time in penetration east and west and not north and south. At one time, I looked at the zone and there were two people in the lane, and everyone else is on the outside and we don't have a guard that will make the play down the gut and get to the rim. We came out of the locker room, got free-throw jumpers, got high/lows, executed the game plan and then we got undisciplined and started jacking up 3's. You've got to learn from your success and keep going at it until they take it away. It's not like they took it away; we didn't flash the gap early. We need some maturity. We've got to grow up, and that will be important for us. Q. You guys had a good nonconference in playing in the WIT away from the Big 12. Can you talk about the importance, if you get that bid? COACH HENRICKSON: Absolutely. And with the quality competition we've had, and most people are going to think I'm crazy, but I think we're a good basketball team that plays in a great league. We're not a great team, we're a good team that plays in a great league. Great teams play with maturity and consistency. We aren't a great team, we are a good team. We have to play with confidence, be excited about match-ups, gain confidence from our nonconference schedule and from the league schedule and build and grow from there. These kids will be excited, and we'll be excited to play next week. We'll know certainly a lot more in the next couple of days, but it's about managing the ups and downs, and being able to bounce back. It's disappointing today not only to get beat, but how you get beat. Make 'em throw over the top and make you look silly shooting layups. That's disappointing, but we've got to bounce back, move on and get better. Q. You had a great win, if I remember, over Xavier who won recently in their conference. Is there a different mindset with players once you get into conference? COACH HENRICKSON: That win was big and I thought would really -- I hoped that would prove to be a big momentum swing for us, winning on the road against Xavier. And we figured they would be tough, and then they turn around and beat Georgia. And we came home and played Oklahoma State and we felt that loss at Oklahoma State at home, the one-possession game. We turn it over late and then we get it to one and they made their free-throws, give 'em credit, and it took the wind out of our sails. We're an immature team -- I don't mean by "immature" they're bad. Emotionally -- I mean, they get real, real high and real, real low. This group has to grow up. It's not a change in mindset. These kids absolutely believed they could beat Oklahoma State at home. And when it didn't happen, it was just like the wind was out of our sails. Then we go to Nebraska and then we go to Baylor, and there is no easy night in this league because you've got great players, great coaches, tough places to play, unlike any other place in America. And until you're in this league and coach in this league, you can't really, really, truly respect and understand it. Q. I noticed in following you -- I've watched you on TV this year and followed you from a distance. I noticed you have a number of progressions at point guard. Can you explain -- you had Catic there and now you seem to have gone primarily to Jacobs. Can you explain the chronology there? COACH HENRICKSON: I felt down the stretch LaChelda was being a better playmaker. I thought Ivana attacked in nonconference and she just wasn't aggressive. And in this league, you've got to make some plays and LaChelda has made some plays. And her decision-making skills are better and shot selection is better and she plays with more poise at the point than she does at the wing. When she is at the wing, she wants to make a play every single time. But you've got to be able to get inside on defense and create opportunities in transition. I thought last night LaChelda was good pushing and running. And that's where she separated herself and then I made the change. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank and you best of luck. End of FastScripts |
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