My Condensed Notes for Sharon Versyp Show 2/10/2020

[DocRon]

Sharon Versyp Show for Tuesday 2/10/2020 (with Tim Newton)
Condensed Notes. Parentheses are my input.
(Notes do not necessarily reflect my opinion)

1. Tim: First of all, a lot of people leaving Mackey Arena Sunday were concerned. Harris and McLaughlin were both injured at the end of that game. Is there an update? Coach: McLaughlin was literally run over and for her it is day-by-day. Lots of bruises and she hit her head pretty hard. The back of her leg got stepped on. Harris sprained her ankle and she is also day-by-day.
2. Tim: Woltman was injured the day before the IU game and it is a longer recovery for her - more like week-to-week. Coach: Yeah, there is a slim chance she could be back by the NCAA Tournament but the chances of her coming back before that are very slim. Tim: But it could have been worse. We need to be thankful it is not longer. Coach: Yes, it could have been 6-8 months but instead it’s 6-8 weeks. Likewise, with McLaughlin “they thought one thing and that would have been devastating but it was not” so actually all the news was pretty good.
3. Tim: The good news is Whilby and Diagne stepped up in the Michigan game. So you have some players who are ready to step in. Coach: That’s what you look for. Diagne finally is having confidence in herself. She has the skill set but she needs success in a game and she is finally there. She is finally giving that extra effort. I am extremely proud of her production rebounding wise. She also is making a couple of pull-up JS’s. And it is exciting that she is actually jumping up and getting rebounds. Sometimes when you are 6’4” you let the ball come to you when you need to go after it.
4. Coach: We need Whilby to be consistent on both ends. She is more of a scorer than a rebounder and defender. But when she is in her zone she can go. We saw that all through the season like at Nebraska.
5. Tim: You played Michigan last Thursday night and it seems like every year when we go up there it is a battle down to the last possession. Unfortunately, this year you were one possession short. (Final score 63-66) Coach: Yes, we felt like that one got away from us. It really wasn’t that we were one possession short but “a couple of decision-makings that hurt us.” It was a battle. They have great length. They are efficient at their 3PT shots. If you try to take away their 3PT shots, then they have Hillman (forward 6’1” sophomore) down low who is a handful. Rebounding wise we kept her in check the first half but they shot so well from the outside. In the 2nd half we kept them away from getting 3PT shots most of the time but Hillman took over. She got way too deep on us. We started to try to double her. Harris had to sit and Diagne just was not as tight on her as Harris would have been. We “didn’t have a great shooting game from a couple of our kids.” So obviously that puts pressure on other players.
6. Coach: I think our bench is starting to step up. But Michigan is playing very, very well. They beat Rutgers, Iowa and us. Tim: Oden had been so hot for you the 3 games leading up to the Michigan game and usually when she pulls up for that 15 ft shot you put it in the bank as its automatic. But in the Michigan game she just could not get it to go. Coach: Yes, just making a couple more of those shots would have made the difference. And that’s what she had been doing when she was so hot. Everyone tried but when the shots don’t fall everyone gets “tight”. But Whilby and Daigne were able to come in and do some really good things for us.
7. Tim: Yes, Whilby came in and hit her first 4 shots with three being triples. She had been 1/15 in the 4 games before that so the law of averages finally caught up with her. Coach: Yes, exactly. Michigan dared her to shoot and she was successful. If her first shot goes she will be amazing. We all pray that first shot goes in. She was also able to take it to the basket. When you are down, you gotta have someone score and she did.
8. Tim: It is amazing with some teams that the minute you step in the building you know it is coming down to the last possession. Coach: Yes, the last 3 years we have been up there it has come down to the last possession or two. We could have almost tied it if we had executed the last play correctly. “Because ‘Ris’ (McLaughlin) was wide open.” At least we would have had that opportunity to see if it would go in. But we’ve always done that there. They threw the ball OOB and no one touched it so we had that last chance. We were supposed to throw the ball down to “this side of the floor to shoot the three” but it did not happen. It’s matchups. Some teams you matchup with very well and some teams it is topsy-turvy until you figure out the matchups.
9. Tim: With Michigan you were playing the 2nd of 3 games in 7 days. So you get home from a disappointing loss and get home late and then have to turn around in less than 72 hours to play one of the best teams in the B1G. Coach: Yes, that happens. This is our tough stretch along with the one at the start of the year. We lost 3, then bounced back and won 3. We had some physical fatigue factor but not that much. It was also emotional fatigue from being very disappointed at the Michigan loss.
10. Tim: Halftime at Sunday’s “Pink-Out” game was very emotional. You were in the locker room. Coach: Yes, but everyone raved about it to me. I had a ton of people reach out and thank us for that. Tim: Our halftime guest talked about how much Tyler Trent has meant to cancer research here at Purdue and the amazing things they have been able to do with his donation of his tumor for research and the donations that have come in because of him. It is amazing what that young man has made possible even with his life gone. Coach: Yes, his legacy will continue. He’s giving back in so many ways.
11. Tim: The Iowa Hawkeyes have maybe been the surprise team of the B1G. Megan Gustafson was the POY last year and is gone but they are kind of like their FB team. They have a system and they recruit to that system. And they find kids who fit it very well. Coach: Yes, they know who they are and that’s who they get. “They are all about scoring the basketball - they don’t care to defend." They can go 4 guards and 1 post. Their post player (Czianao, forward 6’3” sophomore) was so efficient. She was underneath the basket, she made hook shots, she did turn and fake, she did 15 footers, she did short corner shots. She pretty much learned from Gustafson.
12. Tim: That’s it. Czianao averaged 2pts/game as a freshman and didn’t play much - but she learned a whole lot. Coach: She did. I just wish freshmen would understand that better. They get caught up in playing time. It’s a process. Megan took her under her arms. Our seniors are doing the same thing with our young ones. They just need to be patient. She (Czianao) is amazing this year. And they have guards that can shoot the ball, put it down and can shoot jump shots. Their really spread you out. It’s pick your poison - run them off the 3PT line or defend the paint and they knock down 3’s. When they are “on” it is very, very difficult.
13. Coach: But Kathleen Doyle (guard 5’9” senior) is the key. Her game has expanded on the offensive end, the defensive end, her leadership, her pull-up JS and her pull-up 3. Until this season she never shot the 3PT shot well. She is just playing at the highest level this season. Tim: We talked before about potential B1G POY candidate with Arella Guirantes at Rutgers, Kaila Charles at Maryland, Lindsey Pulliam at Northwestern but you have to consider Doyle. Coach: She makes everyone around her better. I like those kids like Charles and Doyle who make everyone better and have gotten better every season. They make their team great.
14. Tim: We talked about the Hawkeye players but I think there were some Boilermakers worth talking about also. We’ll start with Hardin. Iowa came out in a 2-3 zone but didn’t stay in that too long as Hardin hit three 3PT shots. Coach: Yes, they usually play zone most of the game. We told Hardin she was going to get open looks and she knocked them down. Then they played man-to-man most of the rest of the game with a little triangle and 2 but we scored on that too.
15. Tim: Traylor scored a career high 21 pts against Iowa and it was the aggressive Traylor who drove to the basket and looked to score on the offensive end. Coach: It all comes back to believing in yourself and having that confidence. She has kind of been hesitant until that game. And she sets the tone on D and her D gets her offense going. We had her immediately chase Doyle and that caused some problems for them but then she got two fouls. So we didn’t have someone chasing her as well as KT did. I was very pleased how she did attack and was very aggressive. She didn’t have a lot of assists but she made the right passes and people just didn’t score. She distributed, she attacked, she got into foul trouble, she did pull up JS, she hit the three. Only one time that her shot got blocked and they came down and scored on that. But just very pleased with her play.
16. Tim: You had another game like Michigan where you got way down and then came back and got it to a one possession game. You were down 14 and came back to within two. Unfortunately, you only had 11 turnovers but two of them were back-to-back at a really bad time. Coach: And that kind of just drained us. I saw what Traylor saw and she had been playing so well. I saw the opening but instead of getting the ball to her left hand which she usually does she tried to get it in with her right and an Iowa player came in and got it. Then the blocked shot and score and then McLaughlin went down. We were trying to scramble, trying to press. We talked about how when we make a run we need to take a breath and calm down. Then we need to execute and score the ball.
17. Tim: One of the bright spots is that TOs have been a problem in the past but in the last 3 games against good competition, despite their being all in one week, you only had 32 TOs. You can live with 10-11 TOs a game. Coach: Well that is what we want. If you have less TOs you have more possessions and more shots. And collectively to be competitive you can shoot 40%, 35% - maybe 32% but you can’t shoot in the 20s %. If you are going to do that then somewhere you have to get points so you have to shoot FT’s very well (which we have not done.)
18. Tim: You’ve got the top 4 teams Iowa, Northwestern, Maryland and IU. Then you have the middle tier Rutgers, Ohio State, Michigan, Minnesota, Purdue and probably put Nebraska in there. Then the bottom tier with MSU, Wisconsin, Illinois and Penn State. We want to position yourself as much as we can for the B1G tournament and also build your resume for the NCAA. Coach: Yes. Every night you are not sure what is going to happen. You’ve got to show up every day and keep getting better.
19. Tim: When you get to this point with younger players, this is where the freshman were finishing up last year. Do you see mental and physical fatigue start to build up? Coach: I think you see it more in January. Right now we are fine but with the injuries we have we need to have other players step up. As a player you look for opportunities to produce and now is the time. We are still a young team and those younger players need to step up.
20. TIm: You have a lot of players who have logged a lot of mins in games this year and then you have quite a few who have not played a lot. How do you handle that? Coach: They need to put in extra work themselves, especially now that we need them more. Just running doesn’t get you in basketball shape - you need the ball in your hands. We scrimmage running clock at least 15 mins after each practice. So they should be getting that practice. With McLaughlin and Harris being day-to-day and Oden needing to rest her knees, the others should be getting a lot of practice in.
21. Tim: We talk a lot about our present 2020 season but you also need to look ahead. You got a chance to see the future Friday night in person because your two signed recruits were playing each other in the sectional semi-finals. Coach: Yes, I saw them last year in the semi-state but this was different. It was nice that they were signed so I could actually talk to them after the game. Madison Layden and her Northwestern team is obviously playing at such a high level. They are extremely well coached and Madison is playing great and so fun to watch. She can play 1 through 4 and can see over everybody. She has a quick-release 3PT shot and she can post you up.
22. Coach: Ra’Shaya Kyle’s has improved so much. She’s on a team that has struggled with their guard play. But she finished, she made every FT, she put the ball on the floor and attacked, she had 4 fouls only a min into the 3rdQ but played the rest of the game without fouling out. It was nice to see both of them grow and see their experiences. We are looking for them to come in and we are looking for a couple of others for them to come in and join their class.
23. Coach: We did a ton of recruiting in Nov and Dec and then come January it is more spotty. We are really looking forward to them being her next year. Tim: It is a fun time of the high school basketball season with girls sectionals being done and Layden at Northwestern looking for yet another State Championship. Coach: Yes, but they’ve moved up a class level in the divisions so they will have tougher competition. But it doesn’t mean they won’t do it as they are extremely well coached and talented. Kendall Bostic is a post on their team who is going to Michigan State. And they have great guards around them that can shoot. When I watched that game they only missed 1 shot in the first Q and 2 shots in the 2nd. It’s just fun. I always love watching Indiana HS basketball, being raised and playing here.
24. Tim: Now we are going back from the one-and-done teams to teams we have seen before. We saw Wisconsin on New Year’s Eve day and what we know about them is that they love to get the ball inside and let Imani Lewis (forward 6’1” sophomore) go to work. Coach: Yes, and her sidekick Abby Lazewski (forward 6’3” senior) is really playing well also. She was 11/14 against tOSU Sunday and she has really improved. And when people play zone they have Suzanne Gilreath (guard 5’4” senior) come off the bench and she can shoot the 3PT at 46%. They have anyone bring the ball down.
25. Coach: They’ve been in front of teams - at IU they were ahead by 18 but lost that (65-75) and they were ahead of Rutgers but then lost at the end (61-64). They are a tough matchup. They are so close every single time. At the Kohl Center it is under ice at -19 degrees so we will need our hand-warmers. Against a team like that - they can be really good offensively - so you’ve got to be able to score the ball. But especially we have to rebound as Lewis is very, very good at rebounding and their guards are good at getting rebounds.
26. Tim: Then we play the Fighting Illini on Sunday - again a team that is struggling but has gotten (two) wins (Minnesota and Penn State) and played you tough here. They have a kid named Petra Holesinska (guard 5’10” RS junior) who can really shoot from the 3PT range. Coach: She can. You have to pick your poison. You can chase her around and make other people beat you which we did in the first game. But there’s always little flare-ups with her. They are coming off a win. IU goes in there this Thursday and then we follow them on Sunday. They will make their runs but we need to keep a lead once we get it.
27. Tim: You played Illinois more recently than Wisconsin. Is the tendency to outsmart yourself and change or what do you have to change from the first to the second time. Coach: You just have to play better. The biggest thing is we both are playing differently. Different players are stepping up. You can say “Well this worked” but they may be different with injuries etc. We just need to be better and at practice work on the things we have not been doing well. We need to rebound, know their tendencies, and know their personnel. No matter what you have to know if they tend to go right or left, if they are drivers or shooters, if they go over their right or left shoulder or whatever. Know the small things - that is the most important right now.
28. Tim: It is a week of opportunity. Some of the kids that have not played as much will get the opportunity and they have to meet the challenge. Coach: Yes, the important thing is to play exceptionally hard - that is all that matters to me. If you play hard, communicate and give your best for the team, then good things usually happen.
29. Tim: Okay, pack the thick socks and the heavy shoes and we will be up at Kohl Center on Thursday.