Sharon Versyp Show for Monday 1/20/2020
(with Tim Newton)
Condensed Notes. Parentheses are my input. (Notes do not necessarily reflect my opinion)
(with Tim Newton)
Condensed Notes. Parentheses are my input. (Notes do not necessarily reflect my opinion)
- Tim: Talked about where he was when MLK was assassinated (2nd Grade, Silver Creek Elementary, New York). After discussion of MLK Day Tim went on to ask Coach about practices given that they have an unusual Wed night away game (Nebraska). Coach says they have been practicing “pretty much non-stop since last Tuesday” - usually Mondays are off and Friday’s are walk-thru’s but “we didn’t have that luxury this week.”
- Coach: Today (Monday) they “lifted a little bit” and then watched film focusing on what we are not doing right and, especially, turnovers and “how we can improve and get better.” Today was the “mental and emotional” and tomorrow is more the physical practice. Tim: Classes started last week. Normally you have Thurs/Sun games so this week you have longer to prepare for the weekend game.
- Tim: You started last week with a 81-67 win against Illinois. All five starters scored in double figures so it was the balanced scoring you hoped for. Coach: Great energy on both ends with good “3-stops”. We were good in transition and organized our breaks very well. Collectively we played well with contributions by the bench. Traylor did well setting the tone. We ran the lanes and our post players did a good job in their lanes. We have to have a post player running down the middle of the floor to open up our shooters.
- Tim: It was a different Illinois team than in past. Freshman are shooting better and Coach Fahey is putting her stamp on the team. Coach: Yes, offensively they have people who can score. If the 3PT shooters are knocking down their shots they can be very successful. Post play is developing and they have good size. Their guard Holesinska can shoot “lights-out”. Oden did a great job on her and held her scoreless in the first half. In the 2nd half they began to jack up shots as they had nothing to lose and some started to fall. But I thought we handled their runs very well.
- Tim: It reminded me of our earlier Bowling Green game where some teams you are not going to hold them under 60 points and you could not them or Illinois. Coach: Yes, we did not play well in the last three minutes and they caught up some. We need to do that and can’t let up.
- Tim: You took on Minnesota on Sunday and it has been a bizarre series. You have won the last 7 games at their home court - Williams Arena. And they have won 4 of the last 5 at Mackey Arena. Coach: Yes, and we don’t get to play them at their place this year. That stings. They had some turmoil on their team but maybe that is addition by subtraction. They played unbelievable Sunday. When open, they knocked down shots. Bello totally took our inside game away and she had not even been starting. You can’t start the game like we did but we fought back. But the 3rd Q was “just unacceptable.” But they deserved that win and we need to get a lot better.
- Tim: Talking to people at Minnesota, Destiny Pitts leaving was probably a cumulative thing with certain incidents that finally culminated in her leaving. But they said the team is much more relaxed now and it is a much more calm playing environment. Coach: Yes, they a just a different team now. They are not walking on egg shells. Team chemistry is so important.
- Coach: When we tied the game, we had 4 opportunities to take the lead but missed a layup, missed a 3PT and had two TO’s. If we had been able to take the lead at that point I think everything could have turned with the team and crowd energy and it could have been their breaking point. That had happened in other games where someone finally went ahead of them and they could not respond. Instead, they took the lead and we ended up making TO after TO making the same mistakes. It just took all the wind out of our sails.
- TIm: Everyone misses shots but when you miss a wide open 10 footer or a layup, you see everyone’s shoulders slump. Coach: Yeah, you see it in all sports like last night the way the Packer’s heads were hanging. Tim: The danger can be that everyone starts trying too hard to make plays they can’t really make. Coach: Yes, it gets between your ears. We know how to do better and we just need to implement that.
- Tim: Sunday Harris set the program record for rebounds. She is now the all-time shot blocker and rebounder in program history. She will soon be in very exclusive company with more than 1000 rebounds, more than 1000 points and more than 300 blocked shots. Coach: Yeah, she has really worked for those goals.
- Tim: Likewise, Oden had 17 pts Sunday and passed not only Sharon Versyp (coach smiles) but also Camille Cooper and is now the 12th leading scorer in program history. You can be so proud of her considering what she had to go through early in her life and she is an engineering student and such a well-rounded student - she is someone your program can really be proud of when she leaves this university. Coach: Absolutely. She leads by example. She has worked so hard and deserves all good things going forward. Tim: She will often get switched and have a 6’2” player guarding her or she is guarding them and she is not intimidated and on offense will be begging for the ball. Coach: She is self-sacrificial. She will do anything for the team.
- Tim: Farquhar has been on the bench the last few games. Her knee surgery is scheduled. Again, her loss is so tough for her and the program. Coach: Yes, everyone has injuries but when a key player like her goes out she cannot be completely replaced by anyone. She is resourceful, honest, smart (has a 4.0) and it was a huge loss for us. Still, it has been very discouraging for her.
- Tim: Talking about the “transfer portal”, how does it work and when do you decide that is something you are interested in. Coach: We look at the portal every morning and every evening. You know the coaches involved. If those coaches struggled with the player, you are probably going to be struggling too (for example, Destiny Pitts). You cannot have any contact with a player until they are in the portal. The website lists how you contact them.
- Tim: You’ve had success by getting transfers before with one of the best examples being Trey Mingo. What is a red flag for you? Coach: If they are throwing the coaches under the bus they will do the same to you. We knew a lot about Trey even before we contacted her. Often you can tell quickly if it will be a good fit. Usually you have to know them or the people around them. I call their head coach.
- Tim: Everyone goes into the portal - both undergrads and grad transfers. Are grad transfers different? Coach: Yeah, there are a lot of scouting services that have a list of grad transfers. They figure who is probably graduating and is thinking of leaving their program. So the difference is you already have a list and are recruiting those kids. Tim: Sometimes the market for those grad transfers is a little crazy because you know what you are getting. Coach: It is, everybody who needs to fill a void wants an experienced player like that. They already understand how it works.
- Tim: Nebraska is coming up Wednesday. They are 14-4 overall and 4-3 in the conference. We’ve seen Leigha Brown (forward 6’1” sophomore) before, a kid from Auburn, Indiana, who had a big game against us in Lincoln a couple of years ago. And Cain inside (center 6’5” junior) one of the leading shot blockers in the country. Amy Williams is building a nice team. Coach: Yeah, they look similar to Iowa in how they run their offense. They spread you out and shoot the 3PT and also have two-dribble jump shooters. They are long and tall. Cain is a pretty big girl and someone who is difficult to shoot over or get around. They have great crowds there. Amy has done a good job. It was a young team and now it’s a mature team. They are playing off one another and have really good team chemistry.
- Tim: On every roster there’s at least one kid who seems like they have been there forever and for Nebraska it’s Hannah Whitish (guard 5’9” senior) who seems like she has been there for 7 years. Coach: It does. Seems like she always hits the big shots. She hits big 3’s and wants to leave her legacy.
- Tim: It will be a late night coming home Wednesday and then you turn around and take on Penn State on Sunday. It’s a team that is struggling a little under Coach Carolyn Kieger but they have some weapons. Kamaria McDaniel (guard 5’10” junior) has come out of nowhere and is scoring pts like crazy. Coach: Yeah, some players will really evolve. We will need to be focused and ready, especially when you are playing at home.
- Tim: The task at hand is to erase the bad memory of Sunday’s game and go into Nebraska ready to play our best. Coach: Again, you need to have short-term memory. On any given day you can be great or not if you don’t show up.
- Tim: Maybe you shouldn’t talk about it with your team but I always felt that from around this time to about the first week in February it is equivalent to the “dog days” of baseball where the season has been going on for a long time and you still have six weeks to go. Do you see that and if so, how do you combat that? Coach: I really don’t think I see it too much. It’s just been a very rigorous schedule. It’s the B1G season and we had that 3 game stretch that was extremely tough. We almost had Rutgers. We almost had Northwestern. But almost isn’t good enough. You can control having good effort, playing hard, believing in your teammates, boxing out… those types of things. You concentrate on what you can control and not on what you cannot. Everybody has those bad stretches but you’ve got to find yourself individually and as a team.
- Tim: I also think it helps to have depth in those situations because you have more of a chance of finding “lightening-in-a-bottle”. You could have Whilby or Hardin or Woltman come off the bench and get hot for you. Then the starters don’t have to share the whole burden. Coach: And they shouldn’t have to. And those people off the bench have contributed and will do more so in the future. When you sub not because you have to but because the next person up on that night may be as good or better, that is what you have to have. It doesn’t always happen but you have to have players that are consistent. And that’s the hardest thing at this time of the year. Consistency, consistency, consistency. And as student-athletes they have to be consistent at that too.
- Tim: Let’s hope we come out at Nebraska and hit our first 16 shots!
- Tim: Just a note, the Sharon Versyp Show will not be on next week and then the following week it will be on TUESDAY Feb 4 after the Monday WBB game here against IU.
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