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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYS (WOMEN)

October 28, 2010

Suzy Merchant

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

SUZY MERCHANT: Good morning. Well, as everyone I think we're just excited to get things started and feel good about our team and our program. I certainly feel good about what we did last year and want to build off of that. I think we have a good mix of veteran kids coming with some youth that has really added a different climate. We're ready to step forward and just take the hardwood and get after it a little bit this year. I don't know if you want me to go through my players or how you want me to do this. I'll continue a little bit then and open it up.
I think when you look at our team, it's always as every team goes, a senior-laden team and I love our seniors. Kalisha Keane, Brittney Thomas and Cetera Washington, those three kids have started on and off since they've been freshmen. They've got a wealth of experience. They really have a tenacity and understanding of the rigors of the Big Ten and certainly what it takes to compete at the highest level, and I think when you have that in your senior leaders, it trickles down to everybody.
We're excited about what they have to offer. I think Kalisha Keane is one of the most versatile players that there is in the league and really challenging to defend face-up four-man. Brittney Thomas has gone back and forth the last couple years between an off guard and a point guard, and she's just one of the best defensive players in the conference, and I think it starts there, and she's really built up her focus to be a better offensive player and more of a threat from the perimeter.
And then Cetera Washington. I think every team needs that player that is just full of heart and soul, that hustles, that has that personality. She's one of the best leaders in the locker room and really contributes to us in a lot of ways that don't make stat sheets.
So those three kids I think, no question, have the wealth of experience that we need to kind of explain what's about to happen to this new freshman class, as we have four freshman that are coming in and expect them to see some playing time certainly.
Questions?

Q. You have a heralded freshman class. Talk about some of the things that they bring and how much you think they'll be able to play.
SUZY MERCHANT: Well, I think everyone is certainly talking about Madison Williams. She's our 6'7" McDonald's All-American, very athletic and plays close to the rim. Just a very aggressive rebounder. I think you'll see her biggest contribution early on the defensive end. I think it's going to take some time to build her into an offensive threat. But she can score, it's just a matter of working with her to get a little bit stronger. But I really see her as a tremendous asset. She can run, she catches the ball, she's got great hands. So that's a starting point.
And you know, it's nice to have that length because we've had it for four years, when we graduated Alyssa. So it is nice defensively to just of just be able to insert that same prototype in some aspects to have an understanding of what to do and how to use her. And also what teams did to try to take that length away. So we're excited about Madison.
Annalise Pickrel is from Grand Rapids Catholic Central, and has really -- every day she just elevates her game more and more. She's a 6'3" one through five. We started her playing at some four. She can play the three spot. You can post her. She can face up and shoot it. She's a 6'3" guard that can post. So we're really excited about what she has to offer and have been very impressed with her abilities and her work ethic.
And then we have Klarissa Bell who was Miss Basketball in the state of Michigan from East Lansing. She fits exactly what we look for in our guard play. She's got length, she's a bigger guard, she has quickness, has a high understanding of the game, high IQ.
The thing that we weren't sure about Klarissa as much that we've been excited about is her ability to shoot the basketball from the perimeter. We knew she was a driver, slasher, pull-up jumper but we didn't see her shoot a lot of three-point shots but she's proven to us that that's this other arsenal.
And then Bryonna Davis out of Merrillville, Indiana, she's really coming on strong although she did kind of go down with an injury last week, but we'll get her back here in the next couple weeks. She's doing a nice job of playing a two and a one for us.

Q. A couple weeks ago you talked about trying to push the tempo. That was the plan anyway. How is that going? And is it developing the way you wanted it to? And have you had to tweak it now that you've seen everybody on the court?
SUZY MERCHANT: Yeah, I think that has been something that we definitely felt like we needed to be able to do with our speed at the post position. You know, we do -- this team can play small ball and really speed things up, and it's a team that also can play power basketball at the same time.
How has it gone? Sometimes good, sometimes bad, quite honestly. But the difference is what we're trying to do is not only run but then try to keep the pressure on the defense, kind of in a secondary phase with some different actions that we're trying to do to keep the flowing going before we have to call a set, where in the past we kind of run, if we didn't get it, we kind of got into our set offense.
We're kind of in the in-between stage of giving up on your break prior to calling a play is what we're targeting. I feel like that's gone extremely well. I feel like our kids have picked up on that and are excited about keeping the pressure on the defense in that way.

Q. One of the players that you talked about, you talked about versatility, you've got a big guard that can shoot, who can play defense and everything. Is that something that's kind of become the image that you've wanted to get, where players can go multiple ways to enable you guys to play different ways?
SUZY MERCHANT: You know, I've always been a huge fan of big guards and posting guards. We have Lykendra Johnson who can do that at the three and she can play some four. My thing is less about playing multiple positions, but I've always loved to have big guards at the swing positions, at the two and the three. We have Courtney Schiffauer back who blew her knee out, who was our leader scorer last year before she went down. She's a six foot guard that we can post, too, that has some toughness down there. For me it's probably a little bit less about multiple positions and it's more about what kind of pressure we can put on people from the guard position to have to defend us on the block, and then also have the ability to keep them honest on the perimeter, as well.
I don't always look for that in our fours and fives. I like power basketball, too. So I guess to answer your question, I don't really look at that as much in those positions. It's nice if you have it, but I don't really feel like that's a box I have to check in the recruiting piece. But I do need it in the guard play. I love big, athletic guards.

Q. What about the poll? Is that something you pay any attention to? Obviously there's expectations. How do you deal with expectations if you don't talk about the poll?
SUZY MERCHANT: I think every year players become accustomed to the polls and the preseason and the expectation there, and I think it's just really about managing your own team in your own family and your own program and trying to keep it as tight knit as you can. No championships are ever won in October or September, so whether you're in the poll, out of the poll, to me there's really no emphasis placed on that from my perspective.
I think maybe the only other issue would be is if you're picked to win it all, then maybe you need to address things a little bit and focus a little bit. But other than that, I don't think any coaches put a lot of credence in what happens in October.

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