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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 5, 2010Nell FortnerAlli SmalleyDULUTH, GEORGIA Kentucky – 65 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Auburn head Coach Fortner and student-athletes. Coach, if you could make an opening comment, then we'll take questions. COACH FORTNER: Well, obviously it's a disappointing loss. But, you know, it's a tremendous learning experience for our team. We were a little on the young side. This experience will pay off for us next year. That's something to look forward to, to have that experience coming back into this tournament, because this is a tough tournament. You know, we just -- I think we ran out of gas a little bit in the game. But, you know, we'll move on. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. For Morgan and Alli, what was the difference between this game and Sunday's game? Kentucky just kind of come out playing a lot better than they were? ALLI SMALLEY: Not really. I mean, we knew coming in the pressure was going to be picked up. Both times we played them this year their defensive intensity is really good, so we knew what to expect. They just picked it up to a whole 'nother level, and we weren't able to handle it as well as we should have. MORGAN JENNINGS: Yeah, the same as what Alli just said. Great defensive intensity the whole game pretty much. Kind of feel like we did run out of gas at the end. Q. Was it tough to keep up with Kentucky when they finally established the flow, running on fast breaks? ALLI SMALLEY: Yeah, because they press the whole game. Their pressure is whole intense, even offensively. As soon as they get the ball out of the basket, they're pushing it to the other end. It's definitely hard to keep up with them. They're a great defensive team and they're a great transition team pushing it up the court. MORGAN JENNINGS: Same as what Alli just said. They're a very quick team, very fast team. They want to get you running. We tried to slow it down at times to play our own game. They just kept running and pressing the whole game, and that kind of broke is down a little bit. Q. Morgan, this conference has such a great reputation as being so competitive. What is it like for a freshman player? Is it more challenging than you thought it would be? MORGAN JENNINGS: The word I would pick is "exciting." It's a new experience. I was excited to be here. It's a tournament full of great teams. The SEC I think is the best conference in the nation. For us to be here is just exciting for me. Q. Alli, with the way they run the tempo, did that kind of remind you of the way you played last year? ALLI SMALLEY: Yeah, a little bit. They're kind of similar. But they just push the ball and find open players, so... Q. Same question, Coach. COACH FORTNER: He just took our playbook and put it into his team. But it's a great way to play. If you have the players to play that way, it's a great way to play because it's hard to defend. We experienced that last year. It was hard for people to defend us. Then you got three-point shooters on your perimeter, you got a good post presence inside with Dunlap. Even though she's undersized, she creates a lot of problems for any size guarding her in there. She's a very versatile block post player. Q. Anything you can do to stop them? COACH FORTNER: Yeah, we're going to get better over the off-season. You know, I just think their style of play, it's good, it's exciting, it's fun for the kids to play. They want to play it. Got depth to play it. It's an intense 40 minutes of basketball. I think that that's what we want to do last year, except they press a lot more than we did last year. But pushing that ball, it's tough to guard. Q. What do these last couple weeks mean looking to the future? COACH FORTNER: I really think there were some real bright spots to finish this season out. One of them being I thought our 6'8" freshman, P.J. West, kind of came into her own the last three weeks. That gives her a good springboard into the spring and the summer to do something pretty special next year. She's a very versatile 6'8" player. I mean, saw some really good things in the last few weeks. One of the neatest things, like Morgan Toles, Blanche Alverson, P.J. West, those three coming back with great experience. They got a lot of playing time this year. That will only help us next year. We have great leadership in Alli Smalley and Jordan Greenleaf will be seniors. They played about every minute of every game since they've been at Auburn and playing. I think we'll be a hungrier team next year and definitely a more experienced team. Q. What did you do differently with Victoria than the last matchup? COACH FORTNER: Well, I think she played like the SEC Player of the Year. I don't think she did that when she came to Auburn. I don't know what the difference was, but she did not attack the basket like she did today. She did not play as aggressively like she did today when they came to Auburn. She was 2 for 15 at Auburn. Today she was 10 for 19. That's a big disparity. So I don't know why. But she played like, you know, they definitely lit a fire under her. She had a good day. Q. Kentucky kind of came out of nowhere this year. Looking ahead to the NCAA tournament, based on your experience, do you think Kentucky is the kind of team that can make a run in that, pose matchup problems with their style of play? COACH FORTNER: I do. I really do, because their style is so fast. If they go up against certain teams in certain conferences that don't play that style at all, it's going to be very hard for that team to adjust to them. Kentucky to me can adjust to a slower style. They can guard that. But it's going to be harder for a team that doesn't play that tempo. Boy, they're going to be surprised. Now, I think where they'll come into problems is they are undersized in the post. When teams maybe play them a little different defensively or have more mobile, big people, that might affect them. Q. Morgan, how far have you come in this season? MORGAN JENNINGS: I think I've improved a lot. I've learned a lot over the past games, especially these last few games. I learned how to be more consistent, just to play every game like it's your last. It's been a great experience for me, I guess. Q. How excited are you for the senior year, Alli? ALLI SMALLEY: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to our next season. Like we've been talking about, the freshmen have gotten a lot of great experience this year. They'll be coming back bigger and better than last year. We have a good freshmen class coming in. I think with a lot of work in the off-season, we'll be able to really do some nice things last year. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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