Sharon Versyp Show for Monday 11/30/2020 - My Notes

[DocRon]

Notes of Interest from Sharon Versyp Show for Monday 11/30/2020 (with Tim Newton)

* Quotes are Coach’s - more or less accurate - unless otherwise noted.
* Items may not be in actual order addressed in the interview to more easily group topics.
* New info to me - Layden had only been able to practice five times before the game and Makolo is out for the season.

The Northern Alabama Game:

• Congratulations on your opening night win over North Alabama 80-69.
• “The first half we got the jitters out. North Alabama already had played 3 games.” It was their 3rd game to our first. So many nuances were new.
• Wearing a mask was definitely different. No band, almost no fans. Some players thought the cut-outs were great and some thought they were weird. The fake noise is different. I didn’t notice it but some of the players did not like it much.
• “I’m really glad we got to play a team like Northern Alabama. They are very well-coached. Their coach is fiery, she kept them going, they just never went away even against Missouri just when you think you have a lead they come back.”
• The player Tim was most excited for was Tamara (Tam) Farquhar because you never know about knee surgery but she did great. “I never brought it up to her because she has been practicing so well. She stayed here and went thru rehab - 3 times a day every day - when everyone else went home.” She made tremendous sacrifice to do that.
• She said after the game “she didn’t think she would be playing yet. She didn’t think she would play till January. So kudos to her… She has elevated her play where a lot of players take a long time to just get back to where they were.” A lot of players when they come off an injury like that they don’t have their rhythm but she is better than she was before.
• Did anything surprise you? “The first Q we played every single (available) player. It showed you trust your bench and everyone helped. Everybody helped. We had one foul on four players.”
• “Traylor (KT) had to stay in forever and that’s why she cramped up at the end because she played so hard on both ends of the floor. But just really pleased… But every single player contributed.”
• This year Traylor is not only going to have to distribute the ball but she is going to have to score. She did both of those in our game. “She’s been shooting the ball so well but she obviously struggled with her outside shot in this game. But she controlled the game - controlled the tempo. We loved it. She was on another gear on both ends of the floor… I know her shots will fall… She’s a true leader.”
• Ajah Stallings had a great game for you and didn’t score a single point. She is not a novelty even though she only has (full) use of one arm. (She suffered nerve damage to her right hand at birth and has very limited use of her right hand. So it forces her to play the game left-handed.) We saw in the game her value on the defensive end of the court. “Absolutely. Everyone talks about that but Ajah had lived this way her whole life and it is phenomenal what she can do… It is hard to guard lefties anyways… But she’ll make some moves that ‘normal’ athletes don’t make.”
• “She doesn’t look at it as a deficiency but a strength. We told her to D-up 23 (Roberts). KT and Brooke told her ‘You can have her.’ (Versyp chuckles) and she held her to 8 pts” after she had 34 against Missouri in her previous game and “Roberts totally tore Missouri apart. Ajah got two offensive fouls called against Roberts.”
• “You always hear her talking. If you don’t hear anyone else you will hear her. She has energy and fire and an edge to her - that confidence and swagger. She really gets our whole team going. She has been shooting the ball well (in practice) but her D took so much energy - your legs get a little tired. But we are really pleased with what she had done. She practices real hard. I say ‘You’ve got to earn it every day and she does earn it every day.’”
• “She is a bright light for us.” A pharmacy student who has already earned her coat (admitted to the pharmacy school which is a big, big deal at Purdue). She is “brilliant. And a fantastic family. So bright. She has really matured and turned into an amazing young women and a great BB player.” Tim says it speaks for the type of players Versyp has brought into the program. “She could have gone to some mid-majors and gotten a full-ride scholarship the whole way” but she came here as a walk-on. Ajah and her family sacrificed because Purdue was her love and she wanted to get in the Pharmacy Program - one of the best in the country. She loves BB and she has proven that.
• The first time you heard about or saw her what did you think? “They came to our team camp all the time. And I went to North-Central games a lot because they have a lot of talent. So, again, you are amazed by what she can do. She plays with so much heart.” You would never know unless someone pointed it out to you. “Her teammates love her, we love her. I am just so happy and proud of her. She wants more… wants to give her team more.
• “She is such a team player and that is what we are all about this year… That is why we are going to be really good this year. We share the ball and we are excited for everybody. I think that is what I was most excited about - our tempo, our offense and sharing the basketball.”
• Brooke Moore gave you some good minutes. A transfer form Arkansas learning a new system. What can she give you this season? “Well she’s gotta stay out of foul trouble. She got two quick fouls and then - I don’t care who it is - if you get two quick fouls and then have to sit the rest of the first half your rhythm is just off.”
• Since we didn’t have Karissa and don’t have another back-up player - we had Madison but didn’t want to put her in that situation yet but we will… I think that just totally got in her (Brooke’s) head. She needed to get back in her rhythm.
• She can score the ball - she doesn’t need a screen. She’s small, she’s a great one-on-one player, she has great moves, she can shoot a floater or a pull-up jump shot. Sunday she was 2-11 and didn’t have a good offensive game… If you looked at her shots they looked good and you could tell that she can score the BB.
• The other piece she needs is to try to defend the ball a lot more aggressively… and obviously she needs to be able to set up other people. We say ‘We want paint touches’… that’s the big thing that I am working for with her.”
• The one place you struggled in the game was shooting the ball outside but were you happy with the 3PT shots you got? “Yeah. I thought they were good attempts. I know practice and games are different but we had been shooting the ball good in practice. I think the adrenaline, the excitement”… all of a sudden they were hyped up. “Getting into game shape cannot be emulated in practice.
• They’re going to fall. Brooke is a good 3PT shooter. KT is a very good 3PT shooter but we didn’t see it. We say that but you gotta make ‘em. Obviously Madison is a great, great 3PT shooter - she has great, great deep range. Janelle (Grant) can hit them. We get Cass and Karissa back… we can spread the floor. If people are going to sag off us we need to knock down those shots.”

Our Freshmen:

• Ra Shaya Kyle made a big impact in a very short period of time. 16 pts/9 rebs. You have to go all the way back to Sam Ostarello for a player that had more than 9 rebs in their first game and Sam played a lot more mins. The ball seemed to find her. “Well she’s just got great hands. Anything you throw to her she’s gonna catch. Her athleticism is going to continue to shine as she grows into the college game - the conditioning part and the physicality part.”
• “We would put her in when their true post player came in. And she did things she has not done in practice which is nice - rebounded out of her area, really did a great job of running down the floor. I tell her to run & play as hard as you can for 2 1/2 mins and then take a break… She followed the person doing the lay-up, got some offensive boards, got some of her own put-backs… She has a great presence about her. Just really excited for her growth… We obviously loved what we saw.”
• That is great to see because we’ve had players who were great practice players but when the lights come on they crawl under the bench. “Shay is a gamer. That was great to see… But the person who did the best getting to the ball was KT. When Shay came in she called her number every single time - very efficient. When KT was out, Brooke did the same thing.”
• “You gotta know where your strengths are. You gotta be able to attack that. Especially when they are that successful. And Shay can get so deep. She’s got great post-up, great body and she finished well.”
• Madison Layden, our other freshman, has not had a chance to play very much and you could see a little bit of rust on her. But she is a young woman who knows her way around the court. “Definitely… She has a great BB IQ. But the game was very fast for her and she hasn’t practiced like that… When I watched the tape she moved better than she has done in the five practices.” (that she has been able to participate in.)
• “She’s really, really smart. She is so savvy. She got a rebound and was dribbling back and made that nice bounce pass to Shay. She just sees things that many people do not see… She also knew when she was a little fatigued and she chose to be a passer rather than a shooter. I can’t say enough about her… her guts and grit. But when you haven’t played for awhile and you have to to play 27 mins at that type of pace - that was big.”

Coaching Achievement:

• You have a milestone coming up in that you are approaching your 300th win at Purdue. You have never dwelled on those things but it does mean something to the program. The games you win are a product of the players and coaches and managers. “Yes, it does mean a lot… I’m a product of this program. I’m always honored and blessed every game I coach here. I love this university. I am excited for this team and I pray to God that we get another five.”

Players Who Are Out:

• We have 15 players on the roster but only 10 able to suit up right now. Roxane Makolo is going to miss the season due to injury. So will Rokia Doumbia due to her immediate transfer request being denied. But Bria Harmon, Cassidy Hardin and Karissa McLaughlin are sitting out from injuries. When might we see them? “With Karissa and Cassidy I would love by Dec. 17. I’m not sure… It would be nice even if they could come back and play 10 mins. Cass would probably be before Karissa. Definitely Bria after Christmas. It’s always about players getting back into shape and not so much their injuries. It’s about getting into shape so they don’t injure anything else.

Morgan J. Burke:

• We talked about people who make the program work. The team is wearing a patch on their uniforms this year for Morgan J. Burke. He “was a swimmer here and AD for over 20 years. He bled black and gold… won a lot of championships. Had great students and excelled in academics. Had All-Americans… He loved knowing all the student-athletes which I thought was really neat. He knew al their names and their majors… He meant a lot to everybody here.”
• “When you struggle a lot as a coach… he would come in and say ‘Hey, keep your head up. You’ll be fine.’ He was that kind of coach’s AD… But it goes back to being service oriented… It is all about the student-athlete.”

Offense/Defense:

• You mentioned that you were pleased to score 80 points in the game which is great anytime but especially in the opener. On the D a lot of things don’t change but on offense how much to you change from year to year?
• “Last year we lost Harris and Oden and early this year we lost Karissa. That’s 60 points. And we still don’t have Cassidy and don’t have Roxane… So we really lost almost our starting five if you look at it that way. Everyone was wondering where we would get those points… I knew we could play a lot more freely and open. Play position-less BB… We knew we had to find as many scorers as possible and also knew we had some great athleticism and height.
• “Our point guards can play 1 thru 3. We have a handful who can play 1 thru 4. We are really getting into position-less basketball and it’s a lot more fun.”
• “Our defense - at certain times we can play man-to-man with certain line-ups and at times we can show different - we haven’t showed that hand yet.” We want to use our height and length to cause interruptions on their offense.

Upcoming Game - Miami Ohio:

• We have a couple of home games this week. We start the season with a 6 game home stand and only one game on the road before Jan 7th. The first game is Miami of Ohio on Thursday Dec. 3rd at 6 PM.
• Miami’s first game against Wisconsin was postponed due to COVID but they did play Notre Dame on Sunday and lost that game by 20. But with a MAC team it is going to be a step-up in competition.
• “With Northern Alabama they never went away and they were fast and quick - they’re all guards. With Miami they have two true post players. Face up 15, short corner, back to the basket… They have a good point guard. They have two good scorers that can shoot the 3 and shoot pull-up jump shots.”
• “They played Notre Dame who played 2-3 zone the entire game. Miami scored 68 points. We weren’t able to see how they would do against man-to-man since we are more of a man-to-man team. But we at least got to see personnel. You can see what they do off of tapes from last year. (But people can’t off of last year’s tapes for us because we are completely different.)”
• Being able to play 5 non-conference compared to (9 or 11 like other years) to get ready for the 18-20 B1G games - its a big help.
• “Miami is a very good basketball team… Their coach is in her second season. They act like they are not very good but they are. They’re very solid, very good.”
• “We have to improve. The biggest jump, you hope, is from your first game to your second. And that’s what I am looking for.”

Upcoming Game - Valparaiso:

• Next we have an in-state school Valparaiso (Sunday Dec. 3rd at 2 PM). We better be ready to play because a lot of those players would have liked to come to a school like Purdue. “Yeah, I haven’t had a chance to look at them” but that is true. “They will be guard oriented similar to North Alabama. But we just take one game at a time. Two opponents are going to show you two different things.
• For us to get better we need to take away the middle drive (and) we need to get back in transition better when KT is not on the floor. Now we know what we need to work on.

Finals:

• It is easy for those of us not at Purdue to not remember that even though the students are gone, the semester is continuing and your student-athletes have final exams coming up in addition to working on their basketball skills. “This week we’ve changed our schedule a little bit. We are giving them breakfast at 9 AM and they are taking their COVID tests right after that and then we are practicing 10:30 to 1 PM. Everything is on-line now.” For the students it is their final papers and everything they need to get in this week and then next week it will be final exams. Buffalo will be the only game during finals week.
• We talked about personal responsibility and that is not like anything before this season because you have to be aware of where you are and who you are around every hour of the day.
• “It’s also has to do with the academic piece - especially for the freshmen. Not being in class. Not being able to meet with your tutors. Not being able to meet with Tanya Foster (Dir. of Learning Services).” Face to face is uncommon - mostly it’s Zoom.
• “It’s ‘Okay, now you got to have your mask on and go to your room and just sit there’. But I think it has really allowed our team to be closer and really depend on each other and be really connected because not everyone is going here and there. “The only time you really get to enjoy is being together for basketball.”

Communication:

• So you as a coaching staff have to watch them more carefully to see if anyone is in trouble. How do you keep on top of that? “Ever since March we filter around - we have Zoom lists and call lists - all six of us (coaches)… Certain staff members are in charge of certain players academically and then in charge of others position-wise so that continues. I communicate all the time whether it is by text or Facetime or individual meetings” in a large meeting room where we can spread out.
• “What is nice now is that you can get in the gym and just do casual shooting and that’s where you can talk and people can really share things.”
• “I think we have done a really, really good job and I think our upperclassmen have taken advantage and had great leadership in doing so.”