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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: BATON ROUGEMarch 24, 2014Nikki CaldwellDaShawn HardenJeanne KenneyTheresa PlaisanceBATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, first off, I'm extremely excited to continue our play. Our team did a very nice job yesterday against a very good team in Georgia Tech in executing our game plan. West Virginia is a team that obviously when you look at their guard play, Holmes has really done a nice job as far as setting the tone as a go‑to player for them. Caldwell, she's explosive with the basketball. She's very good with her mid‑range game and playing off the bounce, and then their supporting cast. They just execute Coach's game plan. They're a very good team in transition, and so our transition defense has got to be key, so taking care of the basketball, again, another area that we've got to be very committed to doing, and also getting on the offensive glass. We've got to make sure that we're giving ourselves opportunities to rebound the basketball. But this group, they are motivated, and our team is very excited to be able to play another game. Q. Albany fell behind 17 points in the first half, but they were able to put together a run and I believe get to at least five points in that game. What did you see in that run that showed you something that you could do against the West Virginia defense? NIKKI CALDWELL: I saw an Albany team that didn't quit. They played with a lot of energy. They picked up their pressure defensively and really tried to disrupt West Virginia. They trapped a little bit more, which I thought that gave them, gave West Virginia, a challenge at times. And then also Albany did a nice job of really establishing their inside play. They were very determined to get the ball inside, and it worked for them. Paint points is going to be key. And then Albany also started to give themselves opportunities to score the basketball by taking care of the basketball because West Virginia defensively, they bring a lot of pressure to the ball handler. They don't make it easy for you to enter the basketball to the wings or to the high post. So ball security was key for West Virginia‑‑ I'm sorry, for Albany, to get back into that game. Q. Theresa, just going up against an all‑Big 12 player in Asya Bussie, what have you seen from her so far and what kind of challenges does she present? THERESA PLAISANCE: Well, I feel like their team is all‑around‑‑ an all‑around great team, and she's obviously‑‑ they're obviously led by Bussie. She does a great job of controlling the tempo for them. They go as she goes. We just need to do‑‑ we need to have a great defensive effort against this team and especially her. If we have any shot of pulling this win out. Q. Jeanne, you've been on both sides of this game where you lost and you didn't get to move on, and then last year you of course moved on. I know it's one extreme to the next, but can you summarize the emotions and the differences in the two? JEANNE KENNEY: Well, honestly this is my first second‑round game I've ever played. I didn't really play last year. I was kind of out. So I'm really excited to be here and just to put my jersey on one more time at the very least. I'm glad to be able to do that. But I guess just to move on is an experience in itself. I mean, you have 32 teams that are already out. I'm just very honored to be able to wear my LSU jersey again. Q. DaShawn, looking at this West Virginia team, I know your coach just talked about how top to bottom it's a really good group, but in scouting them I'm sure that you've come across the depth that they have, the players that they can bring in this case of foul trouble or just to give somebody a breather. What sort of challenges does that present your team just seeing such a deep opponent that you're going to be facing? DaSHAWN HARDEN: They have a really deep bench, but I think we have a really deep bench, too. So I'm not really sure if that's really an issue for us. Q. I guess any of the players can answer this one, whoever feels most comfortable. But I was curious when you look at your scoring total which shows an all‑time tournament high for LSU, how much do you think that was a product of the style of game, or do you think there was something more to it in the context of the team's development throughout the season? JEANNE KINNEY: I actually believe yesterday we carried out our game plan. It has to be the first game we've stuck to our game plan for the entire game. Sorry, Coach. But our game plan was to be aggressive, and we did a very, very good job of it. It's been difficult for the season in its entirety to put together 40 minutes, but I really do think we played a collective game yesterday, and just pushing the tempo. We were extremely effective in transition, in our transition offense, and everyone was committed to running from Theresa to Shanece to all of our guards. We really were. If you get your bigs running, you have to reward them. Personal opinion. Q. Theresa, I think it was last year in the FIU tournament you played West Virginia. Basically the same West Virginia team, they only lost one player. What do you remember about that game? THERESA PLAISANCE: Well, I don't remember much about that game. I remember that I was very sick prior to that and I wasn't feeling too well the entire weekend. It kind of ruined my little Miami trip. But what I do remember is that they were extremely aggressive. Offensively they really pushed tempo, and if their shots weren't falling they had five to the boards every time and they were just determined to get that offensive rebound, which I feel like is the same team that they have this year. All five crashing the boards, and they're really looking for that offensive rebound, which is a really tough thing to defend. Also they do a really great job on defense and pressuring our guard play and trying to take away the high post, so that's going to be a challenge for us to work around. You know, they have a lot of similarities from last year to this year, and I feel like they're very worthy of their seeding and their spot because they're a very tough team to contend with. Q. DaShawn, you guys mentioned about the pressure and Georgia Tech pressured you yesterday and you committed 23 turnovers, but that didn't faze you. Why not? How were you able to overcome the turnovers and still get the game plan executed? DaSHAWN HARDEN: You just have to keep playing. If you let the turnovers faze you, then that's when they just keep coming. But I guess they kept coming anyway. I mean, just keep playing, not really worry about if you turn the ball over or not, just try and get it back on defense. Q. DaShawn, not to discredit the hard work of your seniors in that first game because the trail was amazing, but your play, Danielle, what did LSU show about what's next for the Tigers in that first game of the NCAA Tournament? DaSHAWN HARDEN: I think that yesterday was just something that we should have been doing all year, like how we can play. We haven't been playing our best, and I think we all just decided to show up yesterday. Basically that's the team that we are. It didn't surprise us because we know how we can play, and I think that's just the beginning of what's going to continue throughout the tournament. Q. Jeanne, to focus on the play of the seniors and specifically your play, you had kind of memories of Pistol Pete type flash. You looked like you were having a lot of fun out there. Is that the case of the senior knowing that this is the last chance to show up for Tiger Nation? What elevated your play yesterday? There was no tentative in your game. JEANNE KENNEY: Well, that comparison is a bit strong, but thank you for that. I just think our game plan was to be aggressive, and we carried that out. I mean, I was having fun, and that's something that you always have to remember, that it's just a game. I do think that the whole thing of it being my last game‑‑ that could have happened. But I mean, we were just‑‑ that chemistry that we had was so great with everybody, like everybody had that chemistry, and it just‑‑ you couldn't help but smile. You couldn't help but‑‑ those 50/50 balls, those passes, that we probably shouldn't have made them, were happening, just because we were going hard, we were playing together, and it just came to us. But we were very fortunate yesterday. Q. Theresa, to follow up on the finality of playing the final game, what that was like? THERESA PLAISANCE: Just the realness of there really is no tomorrow unless you give it your all today. It really sunk in yesterday that this is really‑‑ they say play every game like it's your last, but really every game from here on out could be my last game. LSU means the world to me, and this is a place that I wish I could stay forever. You know, it's pulling at my heart that one day I'm going to have to hang up my jersey, and I'm going to do whatever I can to prolong that. I know the seniors feel the same way, that we just‑‑ LSU just has a special place in our heart. They say you bleed purple and gold when you come here, and that's an absolute true statement. That just had a big part of our competitive spirit, and I know our underclassmen care a lot about our class, and they want us to go out on a good note. So we have a good group of underclassmen fighting pretty hard for us, too. Q. This one is for Jeanne. On what you said just now with the chemistry of this team and how you guys played yesterday, is this closer to the team when you peaked in your best SEC play with anybody can have a big night out there? JEANNE KINNEY: I would say that, but I would also agree with DaShawn on how everybody just came out to play. We know we've been capable of playing this way all season, but we haven't been able to put all the pieces together, and I think a lot of our pieces came together last night. You just saw genuine came for each other out on the court, and it didn't matter who scored. I mean, we had 98 points so everybody scored basically, but it didn't matter if you were the passer or the scorer at that point, and whenever you can get that, especially when you're in the NCAA Tournament, when it's win or go home, that's a special moment. Q. Jeanne, just to clarify, you didn't play in the second round game two years ago against Penn State? JEANNE KENNEY: Oh, yeah, I did. It's a concussion. We lost, so I don't really equate it. I did play. Q. West Virginia is seeded where they are for a reason. They won their conference. You guys have two things: Your home‑court advantage and the experience factor. They don't have any players who have been past this round of the tournament before. How can those things help you in tomorrow night's game, those two factors? JEANNE KINNEY: I think that the energy that our fans bring is just so electrifying. I've said it so many times, but they really are the sixth man on the court, and they help us out tremendously. But I also think West Virginia is not here by fluke. They're a great team. I mean, they're a 2 seed, and their record proves that. And the personnel that they have, I do think experience comes into play, but I also think that when it comes to NCAA, everyone is going to play their best, whether you have the experience or not. You're just going to go out and play, and I think that's when individually you're at your best, when you just‑‑ when sometimes you just can't think about everything, you've just got to go out and play. We're all Division I players, so you should be able to have the skill set to just go out and play and do your thing. But West Virginia is a very good team, and they're going to challenge us, but we're always up for that challenge. Q. A lot of teams in your league are very aggressive, in‑your‑face, man defense. I wonder what your impressions are of West Virginia in that regard. NIKKI CALDWELL: I'll tell you, their defense can really disrupt you offensively with your rhythm. We're a rhythm team, and so the flow of the game, we're going to have to make sure that we're meeting every pass, that we're‑‑ as a sever you're putting yourself in the position to get open because they do an extremely great job of denying one pass away. They will play uphill on our post game, so they're taking away wing entry, post entry, so we've got to be creative in our offensive attack. You know, in the SEC there's so many teams that play that way or have that style of play. I know Kentucky is that way. We've played A&M, Tennessee can get after you, and obviously Georgia guard play, they also defensively can disrupt your guards, and you can keep going down the list. Mississippi State, there's so many great defensive teams in our league. So I hope through our experience that we're going to be prepared to face this defense. But at this time of year, I think Kenney was trying to allude to it, it's going to be about your attitude because you can pressure us or you can pack it in or you can zone us or man‑to‑man; what is your attitude as a basketball player when you know that you have one game guaranteed, and you only have 40 more minutes left to play in your career for our seniors? So are you going to work extremely hard to open up those passing lanes? Are you going to be that team that plays aggressively against an aggressively defensive team or are you going to be passive? So the attitude of our team I hope will be the attitude of a warrior. Q. Coach, do you know Moncrief's status? What is she going through today in terms of evaluation? And what is Derreyal Youngblood's status on the team? NIKKI CALDWELL: As of right now, we've got Moncrief, she will go and see the doctors today around noon, so we'll have more of an update with her situation, so we're very hopeful with having her back. Derreyal Youngblood is suspended from the team for team violations, and we will obviously continue to focus in on the task at hand, and this group has done a great job of coming together and playing this game still with Derreyal in mind and obviously with or without Moncrief. We are still going to play this game with those two and carry them with us. Q. When you talk about offensive creativity that you're going to require tomorrow, how do you think Ballard's kind of dynamic on‑court skills compare with Kenney's Pistol Pete, fake passes and transition lay‑ups will help in that regard? NIKKI CALDWELL: I think it will be to our advantage because they're playing the game very relaxed, and they're not fast forwarding the process. They're enjoying every moment of being an LSU Tiger. And Jeanne is a very emotional player, and she gambles a lot, and I give her two a game. She gets one a half. And so she knows she can take those risks, but also know with Jeanne and Danielle, they're the type of kids who you want to have the ball in their hands. They've shown that they can not only attack to score for themselves or Jeanne Kenney spotting up for a three to open up the game, but they also can pass the basketball, so they're great play‑makers for us, and that's what we're going to have to have against a very talented West Virginia team. I like Ballard being able to attack off the bounce because that's who she is, so allowing our kids to play to their strength, I think that's going to be key for us. Q. Coach, you talked about the warrior effort that you want. Is that something that has brought this team together maybe that it hasn't seen prior to this point, and is that something maybe as a coach you wish would have come sooner rather than later? NIKKI CALDWELL: No, I think it's‑‑ I think the season is what it's supposed to be, and we're where we're supposed to be. We've had some great 20‑minute, 30‑minute games this season. We just hadn't had 40. And if we were playing 30 minutes, we probably could win a lot more games. With that being said, this team has evolved in such a way where they've found their way, and as a head coach, the only thing that you can do is you can provide basically‑‑ I tell them, I'll give you a shell, like we'll shell our offense and we'll shell our defense, but it's really up to the components to make it work. It's not what we run, it's how we run it. It's not what defensive scheme we're running, it's how hard you're going to play it. We're choosing to play every possession like it's our last, and when you have your team with that type of sense of urgency, they've just got to maintain it, and if we can maintain it for this 40 minutes on Tuesday night, then we have a better shot of winning. But if we deviate from it and we don't have that warrior mentality, or as we call it, we label it like the acronym for NBA. We're not talking about the National Basketball Association, we're talking about no babies are allowed here. So when you get to the NCAA Tournament, you've got to have that type of mentality, and that's what we've been really trying to instill in our student athletes. Q. Coach, you talked earlier about Bria Holmes in your opening statement, but for her to go 1 of 12 from three‑point range, Christal Caldwell with 26 leading the way, that guard combination and their versatility, what kind of problems does that pose to your team? NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, that combination, that's a tough combination to defend. I mean, you've got two kids who are very good in the open court, and their ability to score the basketball multiple ways, Holmes with the spot‑up three, although she didn't make a lot of threes. I think she only made one. But she had some great looks. So you can't run the risk of, well, will she be off again against us. But we just want to make sure that we're aware of where she's at at all times because she is very explosive. And then Caldwell, I'm wondering if she's related to me. I've got to find out because her game, she's got‑‑ her skills are very good, and mine were okay back in the day, too, so I'm going to claim her. No, I think she's an exceptional mid‑range player, like her ability to play off the bounce, and she's a great athlete. Those two really do a nice job, and you go as your guard play goes, and West Virginia, they have two very, very explosive guards in those two. Q. You've obviously been a part of a number of great teams and great programs, and wondering if there's any common denominators there, and kind of looking at the West Virginia program that's trying to get over the hump into the Sweet 16, do you get the sense that they're close to getting over that hump? NIKKI CALDWELL: Oh, of course. I think West Virginia has shown through their body of work this year that, one, they are worthy of a No.2 seed, and that they've shown that they can not only play with the best teams in the country but beat them. You have potential all‑American type players on your roster. That gives you an advantage there when you can go to multiple players. But their team is, they're playing extremely hard on the defensive end, and they believe in their defensive scheme and their defensive system, so you see how they can disrupt you and turn you over and execute on the offensive end. And players are playing together. No one is‑‑ the body language of the team is very positive. No one is‑‑ even when you look at Holmes, not making a lot of those threes. They were still trying to find her, so that says a lot about their cohesion as a team. Q. One of the interesting things about the first half of that Albany‑West Virginia game is Albany shot 55 percent but they were still up 17 because they had 11 turnovers and they shot 3 for 11 from the free‑throw line. You've been practicing the fundamentals throughout these past few weeks. Do you think that's going to really benefit you, because this seems like an opportunity you can have if you just make your free throws, take care of the ball? NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, the free throws, I was very proud of our group for making free throws and really doing a nice job of‑‑ I think Ballard really did a nice job of knocking down hers, and as a team we shot a very high percentage. The taking care of the basketball, that's been something that has‑‑ what's the identity of the LSU team? Well, we're going to turn it over 20 times. We joke about it with our kids because I feel as though they don't intentionally go into games wanting to turn it over. It's just that they have the freedom, they have the play action that allows multiple people to touch the basketball. I mean, if we wanted to limit our turnovers, all we needed to do was just keep the ball in one person's hand and just say milk the clock, milk the clock, then go. But because we want to develop our kids, and it's not just about our seniors, it's about allowing our underclassmen to have that freedom and to make those mistakes because through those mistakes you will grow as a basketball player. We had 23, 24 turnovers in our last game, and I tell them, I said, but if you're going to turn it over that many times, then you need to force that many turnovers, as well, because we need to cancel that out. If we can balance or tip the scales a little bit in our favor, then that stat line doesn't really affect us as much. We also talk about having good turnovers versus bad turnovers, and so I said let's try to at least have half of our turnovers be good turnovers, and they know what that means. They know what that means. We definitely have addressed it, and we have done everything from two‑ball passing to medicine ball passing to just goggles and what have you. We're going to get better as an LSU basketball program in that area. We're still young when I look at our team. We've got three seniors, but we're very young at the guard play, and so we're going to have those challenges. But it won't be a matter of us not trying to get it back on the other end. So that's what I'm looking for, because to me that builds their character. Q. Do you remember the last two second‑round games here? NIKKI CALDWELL: Yes, I do. Q. Would you just summarize the emotions between the two, staying here at home and not moving on, and do you feel like those experiences have helped you, and now even though you're the lower seed do you feel like you have a good shot? NIKKI CALDWELL: I think this time of year it's anybody's game to take. I think when you look at us having a veteran squad, we've got four players who played really valuable minutes last year from that team, and they have a taste of it, they know what they can accomplish and that feeling. So it's in there, that feeling of advancing and winning that second‑round game and knowing the next step. Are we going to be starving for that again, or are we just going to be hungry because I think there's a big difference when you're hungry versus starving. I hope we're starving for it and that the team that wants it the most will come up with the victory tomorrow. Q. Also, have you given any thought if you move on will Derreyal Youngblood be back or do you know how long that suspension will be? NIKKI CALDWELL: Right now the suspension is not a suspension where she's going to be back immediately. Q. I wanted your take on my question about scoring, how much of it was specific and how much of it was a bigger picture thing, the high scoring, and second, did you notice that there was actually a lot of relatively high scoring across the women's tournament first round and what might have caused that? NIKKI CALDWELL: I think the one thing about the scoring for us and our game was we did not want to set up our offense versus their defense, and so that was very scout specific that we wanted to be aggressive and attack as many times as we can against their pressure in the full court and in the half court. Playing against a 2‑1‑2 defense, which you call the buzz defense, where they trap, trap, trap, there's not really an offense that you run where you say, okay, I'm going to come out, ball is on the wings, set a ball screen, whatever; it's more a mentality of player placement to get a score, so some of our action was one, two passes, score it. So we had been practicing against that type of pressure. But again, the players have to go out and execute it, and I thought that they played and executed our game plan to perfection on the offensive end. High scores around the country? You've got great players, and players that can make plays, and then when they get on a roll this time of year, you're not seeing a lot of people lose those leads. And then I think when you're down 10, 20, it's hard to come back from that because you're maybe putting a little bit more pressure on yourself this time of year knowing it's your last go‑around, so that may have something to do with it. I just hope that we're not down. Q. You might be a couple players down tomorrow and you have a propensity to turn the ball over. Last year you beat Penn State with seven healthy players. You guys have a little drama that goes along with you sometimes‑‑ NIKKI CALDWELL: We're women. Q. I wasn't going to say that. Y'all seem to deal with it somehow, winning most of the time. How are you able to do that? NIKKI CALDWELL: We're women. No, I think the one thing about women is we adapt, and we have to. We have to adapt to you and men and everybody else. But no, these young ladies, they've been through so many different things and challenges, and this is just one more thing that they're going to add to their college experience. As long as they understand that every day, okay, regardless of what happens tomorrow, and I tell them this all the time, the sun is still going to come up, so it's just our mentality and our approach to postseason. I think we're a team that we're considered the underdog, and I told them, I said, that's fine. No one really thinks about that when you go on and you're cutting down nets, who was the underdog. They just look at you, and you've gained that respect and that momentum as you continue to advance. And it is about gaining that respect, and we're trying to establish that respect here at LSU, or reestablish it, because obviously this program has been rich in tradition and winning and going to five consecutive Final Fours. That's what we're trying to get this team back to, this program back to, because I thought when you look at Sue Gunter and what she's meant to the women's game, I just hope that we're getting a smile down from her and we're trying to do things the way that she would approve. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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