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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S MEDIA DAYSOctober 25, 2012Jim FosterCHICAGO, ILLINOIS Q. One of your favorite topics is preseason awards. JIM FOSTER: Yeah. Q. Tayler Hill, the media and the coaches preseason‑‑ JIM FOSTER: Yeah, I think we're going to have the banquet on Monday (laughing). Q. Can you speak to the kid you recruited as to how much she has risen from that kid to the kid who would get that kind of‑‑ JIM FOSTER: Well, she's had different responsibilities every year. She came to us as a very athletic slasher and was complemented with Sammy Prahalis and Brittany Johnson. Brittany was a great shooter, and Brittany graduated last year, so Tayler became our shooting guard, and Sammy graduated, so she'll be playing a significant amount of point. I just think it gives you an indication of how varied her skill set is and how much she's improved in a lot of areas. Q. Are we all invited to the banquet? JIM FOSTER: Yes. You're emcee. Q. How did you get your team prepared to play on an aircraft carrier? JIM FOSTER: You just go outside to the local playground on a windy day and throw it up. If the wind is blowing, we're taking it to the hole. That's all I can tell you. Q. I guess some of the‑‑ I guess the million‑dollar question this year is how is your team so far filling the void of Sam Prahalis being gone? JIM FOSTER: Very well. I'm very happy with the first three weeks of practice. The ball is really popping. We've had some significant improvement by our post players, and instead of the ball being in Sammy's hands, as gifted as she was, actually Adams may be the best passing post player in the country. Tayler Hill is doing a terrific job at point; Ameryst Alston at freshman is very, very good with the ball, makes terrific decisions. We're just looking forward to getting to play some games. Q. You mentioned just style of play‑‑ JIM FOSTER: Go Giants. Q. Oh, my gosh, I know. One style of play with Sammy, 40 minutes a game. How will you guys really be a different team when we see you play? JIM FOSTER: I don't necessarily think we're going to be that different, except the ball is not going to be in one person's hands as often as it was. Sammy had a skill set that was more of a combination guard than a true point guard. But very gifted passer. And we were very good in transition as a result, but I think we're‑‑ early indications are we're going to be as good in transition because we've got a lot of speed and will probably get our post players a little bit more into the early transition. But I think those‑‑ I'm not asking anybody to walk in and score 20 points a game, but I think you'll see people's point production go up incrementally, and we'll be a more balanced team this year in my opinion. Q. I guess there's some proposal or discussion out there about some changes to the game, lower rim, bigger ball, shorter shot clock. Does the game itself need any changes, and if so, what would you like to see? JIM FOSTER: I really don't think about that stuff. Geno has got a team that allows him to have escapist moments, and the rest of us are spending a lot of time trying to get our team better. Q. There are three new coaches in the league this year, and there was one last year. But how do the new coaches help the league do you think? JIM FOSTER: You know, it's just‑‑ I'm about to maybe purchase my third home in 11 years in Columbus, and I did the same thing in Nashville, I had three homes in 11 years. If you can't‑‑ if you're not changing your job‑‑ I like changing my location, and I like the fact that we have new coaches, which allows you the opportunity to prepare this year for three different philosophies that weren't present last year. I think we've had 24 coaching changes since I've been in the Big Ten, so it's not something we're not used to. Q. What are your expectations for Tayler Hill this season and how have you seen her game kind of progress so far? JIM FOSTER: Well, I expect her to lead. She's got to have the ball in her hands, and I think that goes hand in hand with that. I think she's done a very good job the first three weeks. I thought my team was prepared earlier this year when we walked into the gym when we were allowed to be with them. It was very obvious that our seniors had done a great job through the course of the summer of implementing some of the things we like to do. So it was a very easy transition. I'd say Tayler, Amber Stokes and Emilee Harmon would be very responsible for that. Q. Who has stepped up or who needs to step up with the loss of Beach inside? JIM FOSTER: I think that's an area where we have a lot of candidates. Darryce Moore has really played well the first three weeks. We thought Darryce had a lot of potential, and it took her that first year‑‑ I think she struggled with conditioning and such, but I think she shot 58 percent from the floor last year, and she's a very gifted passer. She's playing at a very high level. Martina Ellerbe, Emilee Harmon‑‑ Amy Scullion and Emilee Harmon have been healthy for their first time at Ohio State, and they had terrific off seasons, and they look very good. So we've got‑‑ that's a position that we have some depth at. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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