Here are the highlights of her Wednesday’s presser:
“Outside of Sunday (Minnesota game) I think we did a really good job of putting ourselves in a decent spot… (The Minnesota game) hurts for a lot of reasons.”
“But we still have an opportunity to beat Wisconsin, a team that has won 4 of its last 5 games… A team that is very confident. In their last 5 games they are shooting almost 40% from 3Pt.”
“Our record (shows we have improved from last year.) We’re 18-9 and 9-8 in the league. The two games we missed (Campbell and MSU) statistically hurt out NET… You like to think we would have won those two games and we would be sitting at 20-9 heading into the Big Ten Tournament.”
“We won 7 league games last year and this year 9 (even with not playing MSU). I got to tell myself it’s a process, not a quick fix. And this group has bought into it.”
Do you feel you are at the point to play your best basketball in March? “I thought we were - in the last 9 games we are 6-3 (I corrected her saying we were 7-3 in the last 10 games) with two of the loses to Indiana who happens to be pretty damn good. And then the Minnesota game - a bad day for us and a really good day for them. I think we’ve been playing pretty well - hopefully Sunday was just an anomaly and we can get back to being who we are.”
“We’re not talking about winning the Big Ten Tournament right now. We’re talking about beating Wisconsin.”
What forced you to playing more zone? “It was based on the other team’s personnel. When you look at the other team… when they have one or two solid shooters that we can match up with but everyone else is a driver, we want to clog big and wall-up without fouling.”
“Maybe playing zone put JT on the All-Defensive team - I don’t know. (Laughs) Not so sure about that one.”
“I think we’re allowed to hide some pieces on the defensive end when we do go zone but our group has bought into it. We played zone against Illinois, Ohio State and Penn State a little bit - probably more than we thought we could. In the Illinois game we intended to play some zone but not as much as we did because it kinda worked so we stuck with it. But we’re not guarding Ohio State man-to-man - come on. I don’t know how good of a coach I am but I’m not that dumb. (Laughs)”
How is the team handling the pressure on one-and-done plus the pressure of needing to win to get into the NCAA? “Yesterday they had the day off but in our group texts they were saying all the right things. JT got it going with a good text and everyone followed that up. But we tell them you can talk the talk but you gotta go out there and follow it up.”
“If I’m Wisconsin they are feeling pretty confident for the match-up. I’m pretty sure they know they can beat us. So we gotta play like our backs are against the wall, with a chip on our shoulder and as the underdog… I think we’re pretty good in that position.”
How different is Wisconsin from the first time you played them and after their big win against Michigan? “Big win for them. They shot it well. I think they hit 9 3PT shots. They doubled the bigs more so than when we played them. They clog and sit in gaps a lot more forcing you to make outside shots.”
“We’ll be in a new arena we have never played in before. We’ll have to make some outside shots and give Caitlyn some space to work but she needs to understand she has a double coming and she will have to play through it. That’s probably the biggest thing on the defensive end.”
“On the offensive end… they will space you very well. The ball will move very well. Williams has been playing lights-out in the post. In the last 5 game Pospislova has been averaging 20 a game. Wilke shoots it well right now. LeBarbera is shooting it well.”
“It’s a tough-nosed basketball team that plays really hard. You can get them down by - don’t we know it - down by 22 and they will still find a way to claw back in. Expect a hard-fought, physical game for 40 mins and whoever imposes their will the toughest will give themselves a chance to win.”
Compared to when you played, and I know there is IU and Iowa, buthow do you like going into the tournament where it feels that anyone can win? “It’s great. I do think that finishing 7th in our league and where our league is right now-by far the toughest league in the country-to find a way to finish 7th for where we are is pretty good.
Katie was asked about graduated players coming back to the program. “It’s about getting those guys… back into these doors and understanding that they are welcome back. Ukari sent me a text this morning. Camille Cooper sent me a text after the Penn State win… Next year will be 25 years removed from their national championship. We want to make sure we do it right for them and that party will be one that you don’t want to miss. They laid the foundation and I think they are starting to feel really welcomed back.”
Complete video here
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“Outside of Sunday (Minnesota game) I think we did a really good job of putting ourselves in a decent spot… (The Minnesota game) hurts for a lot of reasons.”
“But we still have an opportunity to beat Wisconsin, a team that has won 4 of its last 5 games… A team that is very confident. In their last 5 games they are shooting almost 40% from 3Pt.”
“Our record (shows we have improved from last year.) We’re 18-9 and 9-8 in the league. The two games we missed (Campbell and MSU) statistically hurt out NET… You like to think we would have won those two games and we would be sitting at 20-9 heading into the Big Ten Tournament.”
“We won 7 league games last year and this year 9 (even with not playing MSU). I got to tell myself it’s a process, not a quick fix. And this group has bought into it.”
Do you feel you are at the point to play your best basketball in March? “I thought we were - in the last 9 games we are 6-3 (I corrected her saying we were 7-3 in the last 10 games) with two of the loses to Indiana who happens to be pretty damn good. And then the Minnesota game - a bad day for us and a really good day for them. I think we’ve been playing pretty well - hopefully Sunday was just an anomaly and we can get back to being who we are.”
“We’re not talking about winning the Big Ten Tournament right now. We’re talking about beating Wisconsin.”
What forced you to playing more zone? “It was based on the other team’s personnel. When you look at the other team… when they have one or two solid shooters that we can match up with but everyone else is a driver, we want to clog big and wall-up without fouling.”
“Maybe playing zone put JT on the All-Defensive team - I don’t know. (Laughs) Not so sure about that one.”
“I think we’re allowed to hide some pieces on the defensive end when we do go zone but our group has bought into it. We played zone against Illinois, Ohio State and Penn State a little bit - probably more than we thought we could. In the Illinois game we intended to play some zone but not as much as we did because it kinda worked so we stuck with it. But we’re not guarding Ohio State man-to-man - come on. I don’t know how good of a coach I am but I’m not that dumb. (Laughs)”
How is the team handling the pressure on one-and-done plus the pressure of needing to win to get into the NCAA? “Yesterday they had the day off but in our group texts they were saying all the right things. JT got it going with a good text and everyone followed that up. But we tell them you can talk the talk but you gotta go out there and follow it up.”
“If I’m Wisconsin they are feeling pretty confident for the match-up. I’m pretty sure they know they can beat us. So we gotta play like our backs are against the wall, with a chip on our shoulder and as the underdog… I think we’re pretty good in that position.”
How different is Wisconsin from the first time you played them and after their big win against Michigan? “Big win for them. They shot it well. I think they hit 9 3PT shots. They doubled the bigs more so than when we played them. They clog and sit in gaps a lot more forcing you to make outside shots.”
“We’ll be in a new arena we have never played in before. We’ll have to make some outside shots and give Caitlyn some space to work but she needs to understand she has a double coming and she will have to play through it. That’s probably the biggest thing on the defensive end.”
“On the offensive end… they will space you very well. The ball will move very well. Williams has been playing lights-out in the post. In the last 5 game Pospislova has been averaging 20 a game. Wilke shoots it well right now. LeBarbera is shooting it well.”
“It’s a tough-nosed basketball team that plays really hard. You can get them down by - don’t we know it - down by 22 and they will still find a way to claw back in. Expect a hard-fought, physical game for 40 mins and whoever imposes their will the toughest will give themselves a chance to win.”
Compared to when you played, and I know there is IU and Iowa, buthow do you like going into the tournament where it feels that anyone can win? “It’s great. I do think that finishing 7th in our league and where our league is right now-by far the toughest league in the country-to find a way to finish 7th for where we are is pretty good.
Katie was asked about graduated players coming back to the program. “It’s about getting those guys… back into these doors and understanding that they are welcome back. Ukari sent me a text this morning. Camille Cooper sent me a text after the Penn State win… Next year will be 25 years removed from their national championship. We want to make sure we do it right for them and that party will be one that you don’t want to miss. They laid the foundation and I think they are starting to feel really welcomed back.”
Complete video here
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