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Coach Gearlds' Post Georgia Tech Press Conference Notes

DocRon

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Aug 15, 2001
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Sheridan , Michigan
For those of you who missed hearing Coach’s news conference after the Georgia Tech game, I think it has a few worthwhile comments. you can also watch the 10 min press conference at https://purduesports.com/sports/womens-basketball

Highlights:

  • The possession before the last one, we got it in to Shaya and thought she got a good look. It just rimmed In & out. She looked at Madison (in the last time out) & said “You got this” and I told Shaya “We’re coming right back to you, baby.”
  • We set a double rub back screen and had Madison throw the ball in. (Madison) thought she had her for a second but then didn’t feel comfortable and threw it in to JT (Terry). JT was supposed to get it back to Madison for her to shoot with her right hand but the last option was for JT to drive and shoot with her left hand.
  • JT saw there were two shooters on the opposite side of the court and she didn’t think help would come so she drove and shot. We’ll take it… it was a prayer but it’s the game of BB. She stepped up and knocked it down. (Big smile)

  • Q: Terry had a good stat line. How much did you need to lean on her experience?
  • We’re just gonna start to expect that from her.
  • On the plane to Florida I sat beside Beth (Associate HC Couture) and I told her “We need to start getting the ball in to JT more. So we moved her to the point and slid Abbey (Ellis) off the ball.
  • JT gets a little bit loose sometimes with the turnovers. We had 11 at half. She had 3 and Madison had 3. Between the two of them they only had one turnover in the 2nd half which was an offensive foul on Madison.
  • JT just understands it. She kinda has this old man’s pace to her. She doesn’t get in a hurry and sometimes we say “Come on, JT, let’s go, let’s go.” But she just gets it. She’s always looking for shooters. That’s what she wants to do.
  • She’s going to be massive for us down the stretch. She rebounded the ball better for us tonight. She also got a couple of steals coming in from the help side.
  • Stat lines are beautiful but it was the leadership on the BB court that willed us to a win tonight.

  • Q: Is the growth speeding up a little bit?:
  • Yeah, I think we’re still growing. I think what Florida did is make us believers… in ourselves.
  • No matter how much the staff tells them that we believe in them until you get a win like that (Sat. against FSU)… you could tell. Yesterday in practice we had a little bit of an edge.
  • Like “Hey, I don’t care what the world thinks of us, I don’t care what the country thinks of us, we’ve got a locker room full of kids and coaches who believe in what we do. We’re going to stick with that.
  • We don’t care what anyone thinks of us. It’s not gonna be pretty. We’re not gonna score a lot of points every game. But we’re gonna find a way to grind things out and in the 4th Q have a chance to win.
  • The game against West Virginia (on Thanksgiving) did that for us. We had a chance there with about 4 mins to go. We trapped and got a steal and then we turned it over. And then turned it over on the next possession. And WVU made plays down the stretch.
  • And then tonight it was the same. We were up by 6 pts and then all of a sudden we’re down and fighting for our lives with about 4 mins to go. But you’re looking at a team that is believing in what we’re doing as an entire unit.

  • Q: This game, with Tech’s length. is probably a good test for the Big Ten season where teams are going to be taller. How will you handle that?
  • I honestly felt that Cass (Hardin) getting a couple of fouls early hurt us because she is our battler inside. I know she is undersized but she just gets it position wise.
  • I gave #33 (Layden) quite a hard time at halftime. I just really didn’t see the fight in her the first 20 mins that we had seen. I know she hasn’t been shooting well but she has been guarding her tail off. I just kind of challenged her a little bit.
  • We went right to her in the 2nd half and she knocked down two jumpers and it was like her saying “Okay, coach, I got you. I hear you.”
  • She did a much better job of taking away some of their high/low action. Her length gives people problems. But she battled a little bit more.
  • We gave up some perimeter shots but that’s what we had to give up to win the game. Thankfully for us they missed some FTs down the stretch.

  • Q: What did you say to the team at halftime?
  • I don’t think I can repeat that here. (Laughs) The first message was to Madison. I tell her often that she is the best player on the court every time she steps on the court. That is what she has to carry. She needs to understand that.
  • I know that because I’ve been in her shoes. It’s not an easy thing to do. I’ve been a sophomore that had to lead a team that was young and inexperienced after we had just graduated 4 senior starters so I’ve been there. It’s not an easy thing to do.
  • She’s obviously playing a completely different role than she did last year but there is no other player on our team (who fills that role). I think every other player on our team understands that “Yes, that’s our girl.” We’re going to try to make sure she gets it going.
  • She’s going to do whatever it takes to help her team win. With her and JT it just bleeds to everybody. Madison doesn’t care if she has zero points or 40 points She just wants to win. And I think that’s contagious.
  • I got on them a little bit. Challenged her and JT to take care of the BB. Challenged Shaya about missing some easy bunnies on the inside and for them to do a better job rebounding. But I told them to relax. They’ve been doing this their whole life. Believe in what we were doing.
  • It didn’t translate to a lot of points in the 2nd half but in the 3rdQ I thought we did some good things getting out in transition and Abbey really helped that happen.
  • I’m telling you, we have a locker room full of believers and we really don’t care what the world thinks of us.

  • Q: How do you capitalize on this win?
  • Like with anything positive momentum is huge for any sporting team. But in the same way we are a locker room of believers we are also a locker room full of realists too. We understand our limitations. We understand what we need to do to keep getting better.
  • We understand who’s coming in on Sunday. We understand what the gauntlet of the Big Ten will be like and where we probably lay in the Big Ten. But we’re going to take this win and we’re going to have some confidence. But we as a staff will make sure that they know where we are and where stand.
  • We can’t be white-collared. Everything about our team has to be blue-collared. We’ve got to gut things out; we’ve got to be gritty. We will have to find different ways to win BB games.

  • Q: Are you kind of going to go with a situational point guard?
  • We like the ball in Terry’s hand, especially in transition with her kicking the ball up to Abbey and Madison and then having Cass (come in?). But I think it is going to be situational.
  • Sometimes when Madison can’t get it going we slide her over to point as a facilitator. Obviously Abbey and Brooke can be point for us as well. But I do think it is going to be by committee. But I like that group of four.
 
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Tried to listen/view the press conference but my ipad kept locking up. Heard some of it , but appreciate the summary.
CKG just has a different energy and vibe from other coaches when she talks - measured at times but very blunt and honest. I frankly love it. Goodness what a start to the season!
Matt Painter was at the volleyball game on Thursday and Katie Gearlds was at the volleyball game on Friday night. That makes for marvelous role models for their teams as well as helping Dave Shondell through some difficult stretches in their volleyball games. This reinforces the "We are all in this together message!" Sat behind Katie at volleyball and had a brief chat with her after the game. Still the competitor from her playing days, and that is going to pay dividends as she rebuilds WBB!!! :)
 
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