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NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOURApril 2, 2014Brenda FreseNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE RICK NIXON: Good afternoon, and welcome to today's Women's Final Four head coaches media teleconference. For the next several minutes you'll have the opportunity to visit with the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins, Brenda Frese. Maryland is playing in its fourth Women's Final Four, and pursuing its second National Championship. At this time I'll ask Coach Frese for some opening comments and we'll give you instructions on how to get in the cue. COACH FRESE: First and foremost, thank you for having us. We feel very honored and humbled. We still haven't come down from last night's high. Just an incredible resiliency, toughness from our team to be able to go into Louisville's home court and be able to get a win and just an incredible environment. The game for me personally ranks right up there all time as probably one of my favorite to be able to coach in in my career. Just really to be able to see our team, how we've grown, the paths in this NCAA Tournament and the games that we've gotten to play, Texas, Tennessee, and Louisville, we've really seen our team grow into a special young team. Obviously, our next opponent is a very common opponent in Notre Dame who is extremely talented, led by their two All‑American guards in Kayla McBride and Jewell Lloyd. It's a team that's extremely well‑coached, has a ton of depth, and is undefeated for a reason. But I know from our end, we're really excited about going to the Final Four and getting there and getting to Nashville. Q. When you played Notre Dame back in January, as it turned out because of foul trouble they didn't have Natalie Achonwa most of that game either. Just what do you expect from them without her? Does this look like a classic match‑up, but you've got one spectacular bigger player and three big people doing a lot of work for you. Does this look like a classic guards versus big people match‑up? COACH FRESE: You know, I think it's really hard to be able to answer that question. It's a great question. I don't think anybody knows how it's going to play out, us or Notre Dame, given that it just happened. I do know that Notre Dame is a tremendous team, and, obviously, guard‑oriented. But their bigs are very talented as well.  They have a phenomenal team. They have a ton of depth. You know, for us, I really like where our team is headed. Yes, we really like our inside game, but our guard play is much different than what it was in January, and I feel like we've really grown as a team. Q. If I might follow that up, Alyssa has been described as a point forward, a forward guard, a whatever, how would you describe her? COACH FRESE: A winner. She can play any position. Her true position probably at the next level would be in that guard, that wing position, but for us she's played every single position on the floor. Q. At this point it seems like all eyes are expecting Notre Dame and UCONN to be playing on Tuesday night for the national title, but the way you've all come through this tournament with the win especially against Tennessee and Louisville last night, do you like your chances of maybe getting in and spoiling this party and moving on yourself? COACH FRESE: You know, no question. I think for any of the four teams that are left remaining you have to have that mentality. But the expectations are high with Notre Dame and UCONN for a reason. They've backed it up all season long with their undefeated record. But we just want to be true to who we are and continue to keep fighting and battling and scrapping and see where it takes us. Q. If I can follow up on that, you talked about how different your team feels right now. Muffet said she noticed you guys maybe making a bit of a turn in that game against them. Even though you all fell short, maybe to help your team understand just what it was capable of? COACH FRESE: Yeah, your schedule, absolutely. Our non‑conference game with UCONN, our game at home with Notre Dame and being able to come back and being within two possessions of that game really gave us the confidence that we felt like we could play with anyone. But it is a process. We've had a very young team. We've had to add into the lineup with our three freshmen, so it's been a process for us to get comfortable and be able to work together. Q. You kind of continued along with this line of questioning. Can you identify what changed for you all during the course of the season, because, obviously, you've come on very strong here. Maybe if there are any people that are responsible for the change or maybe it was just a collective thing with the team, because I've noticed you have a lot of team unity? I saw a Washington Post story yesterday about the dancing and all the fun you guys have. Is there maybe one‑‑ can you identify what about your game has changed since January or December, and then what might have instigated that change? COACH FRESE: I actually, you know, and you never know when a team is going to fully get it, but for us it was pretty late. It was after the ACC Tournament was when we changed having two weeks to be able to get our minds in the right direction for each other. That humbling loss to NorthCarolina I think really grounded and rooted our team. From that moment forward we committed to one another. Sometimes when you're watching a team grow and unfold in a season, you don't know if they're going to get it, but this team, obviously, has bought in and has committed in terms of a season where when you're managing 13 players and everybody having to sacrifice, just really proud to be able to see them fully be able to grasp that within a season. Q. Does this feel like 2006 at all or do you not want to make any comparisons like that? COACH FRESE: Well, of course you'd love to say that. Every team is different, so, no. I think my appreciation is greater because you know how hard it is to get to a Final Four. Just only four teams left standing, but you know the one thing I will say that is similar to 2006 is watching how everyone's been lined up and committed for one another, our staff and our support staff and just always pulling in the right direction for this team. Q. With all the buzz yesterday of Tyler Summitt getting hired by Louisiana Tech at 23 years old, what do you think you would have been like if you were hired by a Division I school at 23 years old? COACH FRESE: Very good question, a wreck. That is the first thing that came to my mind. Yeah, I would not have been in a position to be able to handle that animal, especially how much women's basketball has changed with the media attention and everything you have to balance. The one thing I will say for Tyler Summitt is he has experience on his side. You can't underestimate the fact that when you grow up with the game and have as many games under his belt that he's had as a child and through his experiences with Pat, I'm sure he is more than ready. He has been learning all those years under her, so I'm sure that he will do a tremendous job. Q. Can you talk a little about Malina Howard? I know she doesn't have big time numbers, but what she brings to your team? COACH FRESE: I mean, first and foremost, not a better person in the world to be able to coach, not a better person. She brings so many things to the table. First and foremost, she's a winner, and she has an extremely high IQ on both ends of the floor, defensively in terms of her rotations and how we guard, and offensively just understanding the game and where the ball needs to move to, the screens that need to be set. She just does all the little things that don't always show up on a stat sheet but that allow you to win a game. Q. Just wondering, off the subject a little bit, just your thoughts about joining the Big Ten next year and coming over in this direction and playing some games? COACH FRESE: Oh, I'm thrilled. I'm going back to my roots, the Midwest. When you talk about, as you go through this career and you get to be at my age and have a family, just how important it is to be able to share kind of your livelihood and your profession with your family and your friends. So for me, that's kind of where my path started, obviously, in the Midwest and the Big Ten ties and the relationships that I've developed throughout the year. So I couldn't be more thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to be able to come back into the Big Ten Conference. Q. Jewell Lloyd has got a rather remarkable skill set rebounding, passing, little bit of Michael Jordan in her attitude. In your mind, what makes her such a special player? COACH FRESE: Jewell has had a phenomenal year. By far probably one of the‑‑ when I watch her on film, she is just a pure joy to be able to watch. You wish you were coaching her instead of having to game plan against her. Her athleticism, first and foremost, her exchanges, her and McBride on the court for their alley‑oops, which is like a dunk in the women's game. Her ability to be able to just a really high game IQ. She can read the defenses, knows when to post you up, when to pull up, when to shoot the three, an extremely difficult match‑up. Q. Plus, she's also a surprisingly effective player in the paint at 5'10". What does she do so well that allows her to be that effective down there? COACH FRESE: You would think when you look at Jewell that maybe she's, based on how she's built, maybe she's not that strong, but she is. She's extremely a lot stronger than her body type looks. So she's a really difficult match‑up when she can go in there and post up smaller guards. She's able to kind of motor her way and get the shots that she wants. Q. Coach, congratulations on your win. I heard you talking a few questions ago about going to the Big Ten. Kind of piggybacking off of that, do you and the program take any extra pride in being‑‑ in representing the ACC in the Final Four in this your last year? COACH FRESE: Yeah, no question. The ACC has been really good to us in the tradition and the history that we've been able to have. But I think obviously the conference prepares us, when you talk about the teams that we've faced and having two ACC teams that are in the Final Four. But I think probably the overall theme when you look at the different conference realignments is that we're probably most proud of the fact that we get to represent the university of Maryland and be able to, for our fans and our community, to be able to represent our university. Q. You've played Notre Dame before, so you obviously know the team. But I wonder do you have to speak to the team? Is there any danger about players maybe thinking that the Notre Dame team is not as strong because, obviously, they've lost a really great player in Natalie Achonwa? Is it something you have to specifically address with your players or do you think your players know the strength of the other players of Notre Dame and you play who is in front of you? COACH FRESE: Obviously, it will be stressed but no team gets to the Final Four with just one player; it takes a team. When you see the four best teams that are coming through, and it's truly about a team. We faced adversity with injuries last season, and I know those injuries made us a stronger unit. Just like we faced when Connecticut came to play us this season, and Kaleena went down before the game to play us. We knew they were going to come in and play stronger in spite of losing her. So we've been through that element before, and the reality is that most of the time your team rallies behind it and plays even better. Q. You guys have obviously been to the National Championship before and been to the Final Four. Tell me how it differs going from different stage to different stage. How does it differ from your preparation and how will it be different from last time? COACH FRESE: Well, there are a lot more demands that take your attention from being as focused as you probably want to be or be as prepared as you want to be. So it's a different animal. I know from going through it the first time and already seeing your morning unfold, there is just a lot more that you have to tune your team into and your staff to be able to minimize the distractions that are out there. Q. Coach, this is more of a fun question. So having Alicia DeVaughn on your team, does Yolanda Griffith pop up at practices all the time? COACH FRESE: You know, actually she doesn't, I'm sure because she has her own real job as she's a coach. But we've been able to‑‑ it's been fortunate for us to be able to see Yolanda in the postseason. She's been through the NCAA Tournament runs usually when her season is complete. Q. Do you feel like Alyssa Thomas has been somewhat underrated maybe even this year? COACH FRESE: You know, she's received a lot of attention and rightly so because she's extremely talented. I guess if you wanted to compare and contrast in regards to the other players that are out there or are deserving of the attention as well, it's a great question to be able to ask. But you know what? At the end of the day, none of it really matters. What matters is that this team has taken her to a Final Four in everything that she's meant to our program. I know that the people within Maryland and what she's done to leave her legacy here is the most important thing for her. Q. You had a stretch, I think it was three games in a row in January where you lost back‑to‑back to back, Virginia, Notre Dame, and N.C. State. A lot of times when a team has that kind of stretch, they can go either way. They respond as you clearly did, or they can go in the tank and that is the season. What happened after those three games that, I don't want to say that changed things, but obviously they went a certain way as opposed to another way? COACH FRESE: I think it's important as a leader to continue to give perspective and not to get too high or too low when you're going through those moments in a long season, for us just giving back to our players. Two of the three were on the road. The third was against an undefeated Notre Dame team. Just that we were a young team with three freshmen that we needed to figure it out as a team together. So just not losing confidence in your team and their abilities. Q. Was there a game that happened after that, whether it was a February game or maybe a game in the tournament or maybe not in the tournament, because that would be too late. But was there a game a couple weeks after that stretch where you sort of knew that this team was heading in the right direction? COACH FRESE: You know, honestly, it was after the ACC Tournament, after we played NorthCarolina and lost in the quarterfinals. You say that's pretty late to be able to see your team kind of rally, but for us, I think it was kind of that our team clicked into that this could be the finality of our season. So really some people don't like the two‑week stretch that is off before you come into play. For us, it was the best thing that ever happened. No question having those two weeks to recenter and refocus and put all the time into us was tremendous. Q. Was it practice schedule during those two weeks the same or did you change something up after the NorthCarolina loss? COACH FRESE: After the Carolina loss the practices were grueling. So it was a mindset that you're going to figure out how to‑‑ you're going to get tougher and you're going to learn what it takes to fight or this is it. Credit this team. We saw our team really within a week figure it out together. I mean, it really was incredible to be able to watch. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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