My Condensed Notes for Sharon Versyp Show 2/17/2020

[DocRon]

Sharon Versyp Show for Monday 2/17/2020 (with Tim Newton)
Condensed Notes. Parentheses are my input.
(Notes do not necessarily reflect my opinion)

1. Tim: One of the great things about athletics is how quickly things can change. Last week we had lost our third straight game with a tough loss to Iowa and a couple of our players were hurt and going on the road for two straight. Now we sit here smiling with two straight victories. Coach: Yes, that is athletics in general. Both Harris and McLaughlin were out. (At Wisconsin) Harris was a game time decision. She didn’t look real good at shoot around and we said “Well, you’re not going to play if you can’t get up and down.” She continued to get treatments. When she got to warmups at the game and got sprinting, and when we got her doing defensive slides (because she had not been moving well) we were uncertain. We were prepared to play without either one of them. But she looked better and we put Harris in at the 5 min mark and she obviously played exceptionally well in both scoring and rebounding. Tim: And she came back and started yesterday and played another solid game with close to a double-double.
2. Tim: McLaughlin was out for the last two games. She is getting better. What’s the official status going forward? Coach: She is still questionable. We are taking it day-by-day and will see what happens. We are preparing that we don’t have her for MSU like we did the other games.
3. Tim: Let’s talk about the Wisconsin game that went down to the wire. It seems like every time we go up to Wisconsin the games are in the 50s and 60s and neither team shoots well. But Harris had 23 pts and 12 RBs coming off the bench and Oden hits a huge 3PT for you at the end. Coach: Any time you have injuries, in that first game coming back you are trying to adjust. Traylor was running the point and Oden would have to sometimes but she has done that for us before. We had to put the puzzle together.
4. Coach: Diagne has been playing very well for us which is great. We feed her the ball and she has been scoring 8-9 points a game and 8 rebounds a game those two games. She had a great presence. When we went to Wisconsin their strength is their post play. Even though we won when we played them here we had to be sure we could handle their physicality. We started in a 2-3 zone to make them shoot from outside so they couldn’t get a lot of high-lows and utilize their post play. We kept rotating a lot of people in. Whilby came in. Hardin got the start but Makolo came in. We just really utilized our bench. When Harris came in she had 16 FGA and made 10 them and that was huge for us. Seniors step up at this time and she did during the whole game.
5. Tim: You talked about Diagne and it is amazing to see what has happened to her in the last two weeks. We’ve seen flashes before but it would not sustain itself. But now all of a sudden she looks like a much more confident player than she was two weeks ago. Coach: That is the key. It is all mindset, confidence and believing in yourself. The only way to do that is to have success in the game. You can have success in practice but in the game you help your team and you feel useful. You have done your part. She has really done some great things. She has a big presence, bringing so much energy, and becoming a leader which we will need when Harris and Oden move on. She has just blossomed. That’s the key - when you are having a good time playing.
6. Tim: Wisconsin did not score a FG in the last 3:42. The teams traded FTs. So with the score tied you got the ball at mid-court with 38 secs to play. What did you want in the huddle and then what did you get? Coach: Well obviously we wanted to run down the game clock. There was an 8 sec difference between the shot clock and the game clock. We had certain plays depending on if they were playing man-to-man or zone. They came out in zone and Oden had the ball at the time. We ran a man play against their zone. We didn’t get the shot that we wanted initially but we were patient enough to make that pass into Harris. That’s just Harris and Oden playing together. Everyone collapsed in and Harris got it back out to Oden who was immediately ready to shoot. The stroke looked good from the get-go. She had not, to that point, shot the ball exceptionally well - she was in foul trouble. So she sat a lot - 3 mins in the 4th Q. So she came in and shoots that dagger. Seniors make that kind of play.
7. Coach: Then with 8 secs left we switched in Makolo for Diagne and switched everything and don’t let them shoot the 3PT but don’t foul them if they do. We defended it exceptionally well. Traylor took the shot fake to contest but then she was able to get there. It just went off a little bit. But you have to be able to execute and score and then you have to be able to defend. And we did both.
8. Tim: You mentioned Makolo and she has not been able to do much for you offensively with a lot of scoring but she is doing great work defensively and she’s a player you can plug in there for a few mins and get some defensive stops. Coach: She’s playing 15 or 20 mins in the last few games and she’s defending the ball well. She doesn’t try to do too much. She makes others make decisions. She’s passing and looking for the right people. That is her maturity which has been really really good. She can lock people down. It depends on how the officials are calling it when you play D. She can really study a player and lock them down. The next piece for her is to get more rebounds. But I am pleased that we can bring her in at the end of the game, as a freshman, and trust her to do those things.
9. Every season is like a roller coaster with highs and lows. Coming out of losing 3 games in a row I think people not on the team don’t understand how happy that ride home from Wisconsin was. The win there lifted such a burden off of everyone’s shoulders. Coach: Sure, that’s why you play. Ask any coach. Losing and winning streaks are to be expected. If you are playing good basketball then it is good. But those three loses and then losing two players and going on the road for two games - we were concerned. But the pep in our step and having others step-up in practice to expand their roles and have better opportunities - there was a different level of energy. It was like the B1G tournament coming early.
10. Coach: Teams in the B1G are tough. They keep talking about 8 teams in the NCAA. Maybe even nine. We keep beating each other up. So that is what is exciting. We can have three teams that can host in the top 16 and that elevates the rest of us. There are a lot of people that put in work to make a great schedule. Hopefully that will be rewarded because the B1G should get at least eight in.
11. Tim: You got back home late and then got a couple of days of practice and then went on the road to Illinois (on Sat night for the Sunday game.) Still without McLaughlin but Harris was back in the lineup. It was a rough first half offensively for both teams. That was not the prettiest half of basketball. But you got a spurt at the end to take a lead into the locker rooms. Coach: Yes, it was definitely not good basketball. It was a grind. A lot of teams are struggling to score.
12. Tim: That happens a lot when you play a team for the second time. They’ve seen you before. Coach: Yes, and when you sit for 15 mins before the game starts (due to Illinois celebrating their senior) it makes it difficult. There were 6-8 people recognized. When that happens a lot of the time we go in the locker room and do our thing and then come out. We were warmed up and then we sat for 15 mins. There were a lot of turnovers in the first Q. We didn’t have our bodies going. And we were ahead 24-16 but stayed at that for 4-5 minutes at least. Hardin was hitting some shots early on. We had to figure out their D for a little bit. You can’t be hesitant against their 2-3 because they were really aggressive. Harris got in foul trouble and she sat but we’ve had that experience before. With Wisconsin we knew that we could go all guards except for one post if we had to. Diagne came in and did some great things. Every kid came in and contributed. In the second half we had great O and D. And Makolo came in and was huge on D.
13. Tim: Makolo was huge taking on Holesinski and everyone else she was able to guard. You mentioned Harris getting into foul trouble. The first foul was a charging foul and was probably okay. But the second one was one you probably can’t have - a reach-in foul in the back court. Coach: Yeah, Oden did the same thing for her 4th foul at Wisconsin. You’re not even part of the play - just let it go. We need our seniors out there - we need their leadership. Know when you should foul and when you shouldn’t. We have to continue to remind them that there are certain plays you can’t control but you can control those. But then that allows other kids to step in and grow.
14. Tim: I talk to you in the locker room before the games and I ask you what is the key to the game and at least half the time it’s rebounding. Sunday you had a 49 to 19 edge. The 19 that Illinois had was the least that any opponent had in program history. Coach: Yes. When they were shooting the ball no one was crashing the offensive boards. They would shoot and then get back because they were afraid of our transition game. That can work if you are making shots. But we were crashing the boards after our shots and getting offensive rebounds. When we rebound exceptionally well on both ends of the floor then good things happen.
15. Tim: Hardin had a career best 15 pts on Sunday. She hit a career high five 3PT shots. When she is confident and steps into her shot she is a pretty deadly shooter. Coach: We need that all the time from her - maybe not 5 of 8. But at Wisconsin she was 2 of 10. So she was not shooting the ball well and then all of a sudden, BAM, they are going in. She also played great D and had 6 rebounds plus 4 assists. She is a guard who rebounds. Everyone was - Oden always rebounds (9) but Traylor was as well (4) and that starts our transition game.
16. TIm: You mentioned Oden - 16 pts and 9 rebounds - pretty heady stuff. Coach: Oden and I talk all the time and she says “I gotta have that double-double. She gets so close with 9 rebounds or 9 points. We tease her about how she continually “just misses” that double-double. When she plays like that hitting her pull-up and doing a lot of stuff around the basket, making power moves and hitting a couple of dagger 3PTs - that just excites everyone. She can put the team on her back.
17. Coach: Then Harris hitting 7/7 (FGs) - we were able to find her under the basket which is the highest percentage basket there is. Tim: We’ve talked often of Harris’ athleticism but one play on Sunday will be on the highlight reels. An alley-oop play that was something. Coach: (Laughs) Yeah, they knew what was coming because we in the B1G all know each other’s signals and they were calling it out, calling it out. We actually didn’t screen the right people so Hardin just threw it right up there. Harris’ hand was above the rim and Hardin just threw it to her. It was just a touch and went straight in. She didn’t catch it - she just tipped it. Those are the exciting plays and will be on the highlight reels. We needed a score, we needed a big play and it got everyone excited. Hardin was teasing on her twitter that that was the "best pass I ever made."
18. Tim: The other thing we’ve seen you do with Harris is that if teams are going to play you up, just run her on the home run down the court and throw the fly pattern to her. She will beat her post player down the floor. Coach: Oden did that a couple of times Sunday. She is so good and can see the floor so well. Harris just slips her player and is going to the basket.
19. Tim: McLaughlin is still on the bench and I ran into her today and asked “What’s it like sitting on the bench” and she said “It’s unbelievable. I see things and say to myself ‘Why can’t we see where that pass should go.’” I said “Now you know how your head coaches felt for the last three years.” It’s a lot easier from the sidelines than it is on the court. Coach: It is. When you are playing you just see what you want to see and you don’t see everything. I think it does make players better if when they are injured they sit on the bench (not that I want them to be injured.)
20. Tim: Regarding our 2020 recruits, Madison Layden at Northwestern continues to move on and will play in the semi-finals this weekend. She played huge and led her team to the regional championship. Coach: Madison is exciting and can play the 1 thru 4 position. They actually do a ton of alley-oops to her. She has a quick release on her 3PT, can handle the ball so well and is one of the best passers I’ve seen. She is long. She is smart. She is well-coached and so much fun to watch. With her and Ra’Shaya I am very excited about the future.
21. Tim: Looking at the B1G standing (as of Sunday 2/16)), Maryland is 13-2 and Northwestern is 12-2. The Wildcats are 22-3 and it might be the quietist 22-3 season in history as no one is talking about them. Coach: They are getting it done. They’ve stayed healthy. Last year they were not healthy until the end of the season and they went to the WNIT championship. Now all their starters are healthy and their bench is playing very good. But people are just talking about Maryland and Iowa. Tim: Iowa is at 12-3 and is in 3rd. There was a big upset Sunday when Ohio State went into Bloomington and beat IU. IU is now 10-5 and Ohio State is 9-5. Everyone wants to get into the top 4 to get the double bye. Looking at the schedule Ohio State probably has the tougher schedule the rest of the way.
22. Coach: Yeah, everyone is tough. It’s not easy. But if we can continue to play as we have these last two games and stay healthy we will do well. Michigan right now has had some injuries. Rutgers has injuries. It is a long, long season. Every season there is a logjam in the middle. Tim: Rutgers is 8-6. Purdue is 8-7 and Michigan is 7-7. (The remaining teams have 8 or more league losses.) That’s probably where the defining line is being drawn in terms of the NCAA Tournament. Probably the rest will only get in if they win the B1G Tournament.
23. Coach: Looking at what they are supposed to look at, that is how it usually is. They look at how many games you won in the top 50 or even how many you played, as some teams have not played that many. The Strength of Schedule (SOS) - we talked about that. Your non-conference is real important because you never know who you are going to play in the B1G - will it be top-heavy or bottom-heavy. Tim: Purdue’s RPI is 45 and its SOS is 16 so it has one of the Top 20 strongest schedules.
24. Tim: One of the more impressive things about Purdue’s record in the B1G is that they are 6-5 on the road. Coach: They say they look at your road record - being able to win games on the road. Those road games count more when you calculate RPI.
25. Tim: The two home games you have left are two teams you played before - MSU and Ohio State. MSU has had several injuries with Colley (guard 5’9” RS senior) out and Victoria Gaines (forward 6’1” RS senior) out. But they still have dangerous players with McCutcheon (guard 5’5” senior) as their point guard.
26. Coach: They are playing 4 guards now with 1 post. You just have to chase them all over the place. They can shoot the 3PT, they can hit pull-up JS’s. They can go 1 on 1. Clouden (guard 5’8” sophomore) is the reason they are playing well lately. Her and McCutcheon are the ones you have to isolate a little bit. They are going to score some pts but you can’t let them totally go isolated 1 on 1. Joiner (guard 5’10” freshman) is a great 3PT shooter. That is how they beat Rutgers the first time - she was like 5 of 6. If you have a player that can hit 3PT shots that consistently in a game, good things happen. They just really spread it out - 4 out and 1 in. They go back door. They run a ton of screens. We defended it pretty well when we played them before but now they are better - and we are better.
27. Tim: Then you get Maryland next Tuesday night - a team that right now may be the 4th best team in the country. I think Oregon, Baylor and South Carolina are in a category by themselves but Maryland is knocking on the door. They’ve won 11 in a row. Coach: they are playing at an elite, elite level. Their goal is to force you in a timeout in the first 3 or 4 minutes. They play a swarming 1-2-2. They’re big - they switch 6’6” to 6’1”. So they switch on you, they get in passing lanes. They have long arms and get a ton of deflections so they get a lot of steals. You need to make sure you limit those opportunities before they put an 8-0 run on you.
28. Tim: Ohio State is a team we saw at the beginning of the season. They are very young but they’ve come up with some big wins at the end of the season. They shot 11 of 14 against IU in the 4th Q and that makes it pretty hard to sustain a lead. If their 3PT ball is going they are very dangerous. They are starting to play together than earlier in the season. Then it was more 1 on 1 ball and now it is about creating for others. They haven’t had any injuries so they’ve stayed healthy.
29. Tim: You played at Illinois’ senior day last week and Sat the 29th will be your senior day. It is always hard to say “Goodbye” to seniors but when you look at the numbers that Ae’Rianna Harris and Dominique Oden have put up, and just the impact they’ve had on the court, it will be hard to say goodbye to those two. Coach: Those two have done an amazing job and what I am most proud of is that they have learned to lead. When you are a freshman and sophomore you just do what people tell you to do and then taking that leadership is not easy to do. I am really proud of that. We have talked about the legacy they want and we talked about finishing strong and how far we can go in the NCAA. These two have been special and we need to make sure they end on a positive note.
30. Tim: One thing about seniors - you can’t replicate urgency. At some point you look up at the clock and say “Hey the sand in my hourglass of college basketball is running out here”. Coach: I think especially Dominique has told the team “Hey I was a freshman and sophomore. You don’t get it now but when you become a senior you will want the same things.” For both of them they are playing with urgency, as hard as they can and don't want to have any regrets. For those two hours you have to block everything out and keep everything going.
31. Tim: Okay let’s keep this going on Thursday night. Don’t forget there is no (Coach Versyp) show next Monday as we will be traveling (to College Park, MD.). Our final show will be Monday night March 2nd after the regular season is done.