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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S MEDIA DAYOctober 31, 2013Connie YoriCHICAGO, ILLINOIS THE MODERATOR: Joining us now is Nebraska head coach Connie Yori, returning 8 letter winners and four starters that won 25 games and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16. Coach? CONNIE YORI: Happy Halloween. I'm masquerading as a real person today, 90% of the time I have sweats, so this is unusual for me. Just a little bit about what's happened in our program in the last six months and we will go from there. The last six months there has been a lot of good things in Nebraska women's basketball. We've been to a Sweet 16. We opened a brand new arena that in Lincoln; it's beautiful. We have been granted an NCAA regional, Lindsey Moore was drafted in the first round of the WNBA draft, Jordan Hooper played with USA Basketball, gold medal team, so we have had a lot of good things that have happened. We're different this year than last with the loss of Lindsey and we don't have anybody masquerading right now as Lindsey in our practices, I wish we did. But it has changed us a little bit and just because you're older doesn't mean you're better so we've got a lot of work to do. Q. Can I get your reaction to earning the conference preseason team of the year honors? CONNIE YORI: I think this is the first time in Nebraska women's basketball history that we have been picked to win whichever league we have been playing in. I didn't pick us to win the Big Ten and I'm not sure why everybody else did, because we have a lot of work to do, but, you know, the poll is for you guys to have an opportunity to write about something, what else you going to be doing this time of year. Gives you a chance to write about women's basketball. That's how we look at it and it doesn't change what we do or who we are. It does put more of a target on our back, but, yet, we still go about our business and try to do the things we always do. Q. A little more about Lindsey Moore. How hard is it to replace a four‑year starter at point guard, especially one as talented as she was over those years, maybe even under rated compared to other guards, I think. How hard is it to replace those people? CONNIE YORI: I didn't underrate her. I felt like the last several years she has been one of the best point guard in the country. We knew that. We knew that internally within our program and we knew‑‑ we were aware of the little things that she did for us. She made everybody around her. I think that's what any good player does but particularly at that spot. It is hard to replace her. As I said there is nobody in our program who is going to replace Lindsey, we have to do it collectively, everyone has to get better, we have to get more products of our returning starters and they have got to expand their game. Rachel Theriot will be moving to point guard but that leaves a void at the wing spot. There is a reason why Lindsey rarely left the floor. There is a reason why she is the all‑time leading minutes player and the all‑time leading assist player in our program. She is that good. We're missing a key ingredient from where we were last year, that's why in some ways for us to be picked where we have been is surprising. I don't know if people realized how good she really, really was. Q. Coach, can Jordan being on your team, she has proved the type of player she is but talk about her role in leading the team in other aspects, in practice, off the court, that type of thing. CONNIE YORI: I think Jordan's experience with USA basketball has made her more confident. It's also made her more vocal. Jordan is a quiet kid and for her to four years ago be playing at a rural high school in Nebraska, a ranch kid, to go all the way to playing with USA basketball in Russia is a huge expansion of who she is and where she has come from. So I think it takes time‑‑ it has taken time for her to become a leader for us. She is always going to be a leader by example. She has always been that force but we're asking her to do more in terms of being vocal and I think she is accepting that but it's not necessarily something she is entirely comfortable with. Q. Coach, you're the beneficiary of the regional site moving to campus this year, but overall what are your thoughts on that? How does that if at all change how you and your team function throughout this season? CONNIE YORI: We were surprised we earned a regional, we thought we were going to get a first and second round at our place and that was what we had expected and when we earned a regional I had to check and make sure it was us. But I think earning a regional is‑‑ couple of reasons. We have a brand new arena and we have a great fan base. Those two things combined have allowed us to earn that and the fact that we are‑‑ our program has been solid over the years, that doesn't hurt, obviously. We're excited to be in that position but to be playing on those dates is another thing, whether that comes to fruition. In terms of the big picture and what is happening with women's basketball I'm overall a proponent for what is going to happen in the future with going back to the top 16 seeds hosting and having neutral regionals. Q. I'm curious to know your thoughts on the rule changes particularly the backcourt rule. How will that change your style of play? For it? Against it? CONNIE YORI: It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I don't think it will be significant but I guess we're going to find out. We have had a couple of scrimmages where we have had officials come in and now one exhibition game and I think only one time did it impact us. I don't think it changes a lot of what we do. I think you could go to trapping more and doing things in the backcourt defensively but you have to have the personnel to do that so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. The other rules I think will impact our game greatly. Q. The other rules, that second touch rule, how has that impacted your game so far? CONNIE YORI: The second touch rule has always been a rule, actually, but the idea is to enforce the rules that are in place. I believe early on we're going to see a lot of fouls, however, in the broad scheme of things, in our game, I think it's going to clean up our game, going to allow players to move with more freedom and therefore I think our scoring will be up eventually and I think it's‑‑ I think the majority of coaches believe it's the right thing to do. I think we're going to have to be a little patient early on as coaches, as players and fans to understand that there are probably going to be more fouls called than we would like, but in the long term I think it's going to be positive. THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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