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BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYS

October 22, 2008

Kristy Curry

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA

PETER IRWIN: We're now joined by Coach Curry from Texas Tech University. Welcome, and your comments.
COACH CURRY: We're excited. We have obviously a little bit different look in our eye as far as experience. They know how to get from point A to point B on and off the floor a little better and that's kind of nice to see.
I don't really talk that much. Did I follow Gary Blair. No, that was Kathy.
PETER IRWIN: Questions for Coach.

Q. Can you talk about this being your third year in the Big 12 and your experience in the Big Ten, what you've learned from being in both conferences and the differences in the leagues top to bottom?
COACH CURRY: Wow, you know, it's definitely been a blessing to experience two leagues. Women's basketball is a priority. Big Ten does a great job and Big 12 does. As far as the leagues, it's totally different. From being the Big 12 South, Big 12 North, puts a different spin on it. Not playing everybody twice.
I think the biggest thing is the depth of the league. And I think obviously I came into the Big 12 where the parity from top to bottom is probably at its highest level it's ever been at. So certainly the Big 12 South night in, night out is quite the challenge, along with the North.
And so it has a totally different feel than the Big Ten as far as the depth and talent and how good the league is. Not that the Big Ten isn't. I don't mean that in any way but night in, night out, there's no day off. There's no night off. There's no time to take a deep breath.
And so I also see a different type of player, the Big 12 is so athletic, transition game. The Big Ten is a little bit more big, corn- fed, a little more as far as half court.
So it's been a great experience because I have -- I feel like I've grown as a coach. It's been a different challenge. It's been a challenge I've really embraced and one that I knew coming in would be. So it's been great for me because I've had to learn to be a little better in a little few different ways than I have before. So it's been good.

Q. Last year there were just times when you were just trying to find five people who could play well together at the same time. You might have one here, one there. Is that maybe something you're going to see more of this year? And also in terms of your 3-point shooting do you feel that could be more effective this year?
COACH CURRY: Without question. Again, much more seasoned. The off season, the commitment they made has been tremendous. Maria Moore's probably dropped eight pounds. Obviously not just our 3-point shooting but when you see our team, I mean, we've got to have that third and fourth player in double figures night in, night out. We have to have a more well-rounded production from everyone.
And I think at the top of our list, though, is prizing each possession and taking care of the basketball. We're six or eight possessions away from being one of the eight teams in the NCAA tournament.
So it's a matter of taking better care of the basketball and finding ways when things break down to make plays. And that's going to have to come from more than just Dominic Seals for us to be successful.

Q. You talked about your third year, the difference adjusting to the style of play. Has it been tougher than you might have expected it to be?
COACH CURRY: I think I knew coming in that we didn't inherit much. Coach Sharp was pretty honest with me about that. I think the toughness of the situation, I don't really think I realized how deep the league was from top to bottom, from one through 12. So I probably thought one through eight but I'm not sure I thought about nine, 10, 11, 12 night in, night out. Each night's a challenge. There's no given wins. There's nothing that you circle on your schedule, not that I ever really did before because I've always respected everyone.
So the challenge of the situation is one that I knew and I've embraced it. I absolutely love it. As crazy as that may sound, I love getting up every day and trying to get this done and we're going to continue to.
So I don't think it was -- I think also, too, when you look at the league, I realized that it was a different land. Things were different than maybe it was when Coach Blair came in or Coach Budke came in. I knew we were coming in probably as the sixth team in the Big 12 South and I knew everybody had everybody coming back for a couple of years so how quick could we work our magic. I wasn't sure but I know we're working relentlessly every day and I can tell you that we're getting better.
We're better than we were two years ago. We were better than we were a year ago and that's all you can try to do is get better with each day, and we're doing that.

Q. Can you talk about your incoming class and who you see you can get the most production out of this season?
COACH CURRY: I think it's too early to really answer that question. But I love what they're doing so far. Kierra Mallard is a 6'-3" post player that really can make us better. She's gonna see some time if she continues to work at it. Obviously it's earned.
I think one of the big questions folks had about her coming out of high school was the pace, can she adjust to the pace. She's very talented, but does she understand the pace. And she has adjusted Kristy Curry style really quick and I'm proud of her for that.
I think Jordan Barncastle, being a coach's kid and blue-collar and hard-nosed and just an old country girl, she fits in so well in what we're about out there and she's going to contribute.
Both of those kids are 6'-2", 6'-3" and are versatile. They'll help us inside. And Timilia Martin, a point guard that was Player of the Year in the East Texas is going to help us as far as giving us a solid back-up, a chance to learn a year from Maria, we're about to sign a freshman 1 that we're thrilled about. It's a great situation to have T. Martin place to help and work with Maria and learn and grow.
And I'm concerned, we may end up red shirting Linda Kimbro. So we'll see what happens with that. Her knee after she committed to us she tore an ACL and retore her ACL her senior year. We're kind of having to take that slow. We're not sure where she's going to fall here. But three or four can really help us early and contribute and that gives us more depth and weapons and makes practices more competitive. And nothing's a given. You've got to earn it. So that's really helpful.
PETER IRWIN: Thank you, Coach.

End of FastScripts

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