October 3, 2024 • 24 mins
Coach Auriemma on the Huskies first day of official practice as the 24-25 season is a month away
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
She got hurt, but I don't know what the the
team said that I've not I've not heard that.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Somebody just told me.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
That that she that she had gotten hurt, but nobody
knew what the.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Because it was right before practice.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So it's a lot of basketball man to go from,
you know, playing a college season, playing the w n
B a season, then going right into it's like non NonStop.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Never ending. I don't.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I can't even imagine how how they do it and
how she feels right now. And I don't for somebody
who loves the game as much as she does to
be away from it. So that's really obviously it's sad.
It's sad.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
So I'll try to catch up with it tonight if
I get back. Mmmm.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
What were your impressions of day one?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Uh Uh? I think sometimes, you know, we put too
much emphasis on on what I I think maybe the
expectations sometimes are are a little bit out of out
(01:34):
of whack. I think we as coaches, you know, envision
everybody at at their at their best of what they
can be, and the only thing we remember is what
we look like in March. You know, So when you
look like that in March, you think that there's carryover
and it's gonna look like that the first the first day,
(01:55):
and you know, I practice in October. That's always a
reminder to know it's not you know, like you have
to start all over again. So my impressions first day,
it's like we got to start all over again. And
you really start to see the level of difference in
in the the way the older guys carry themselves and
(02:20):
execute and lost some of the younger guys look. So
it's going to be it's going to be a work.
You know, it's going to be a work. It's gonna
take some time. But you know, their energy was good.
They they were anxious to get going. They were you know,
(02:41):
a beat and so all the things you want them
to be. But it's just gonna take it's gonna take
us some time.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Sarah, Sarah looks pretty good. Is that because she's been
playing USA basketball?
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Or it may just be she's a good player, you know,
so sometimes you know what you see is what really is.
You know, I think the whole month of September there
there hasn't been anybody that's that's separated themselves from you
(03:16):
know that any of the young players, either last year's
freshmen or this year's incoming freshmen. No one has really
separated themselves, and maybe they were just waiting for practice
to start where it's a little more structured, a little
more organized and all that. But you know, she's been
pretty tentative and feeling her way. And you know today,
(03:41):
you know, when you start playing, you start playing for
Rio at practice, you know, your instincts just stick over.
And some people have really good instincts and some people
have not so great instincts. So yeah, she's she's got
a lot of she's got a lot of skills that
she can take advantage of them.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I saw a couple of them today, obviously.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Any early impressions on Caitlin, and it's her adjustment and
easier because of you and Princeton a kind of sort.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Of so on, Uh not really, I mean her adjustment
is it's okay because she she's aggressive, she plays hard,
she attacks with the ball, So just by nature of
her personality, the transition will be not easy, but it'll
(04:30):
be easier than if she was passive and coming from
a program where you know, they're not used to winning
or any of that, any of that stuff, or I
don't know the fact that she's played four years of basketball.
Obviously it shows. But I I more than anything, I
(04:51):
like her approach. I like her attitude or I like
how aggressive she wants to play basketball, you know. And
she's finishes around the basket like she gets the ball
from one place to another and the bowl goes in
a lot when she gets in the lean. So we're
trying to just play through her strengths more than anything.
(05:13):
So Jenna and Yanna out there, just how are they
doing a production of getting back the.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
You know, they're they're a little bit over anxious at
times because they they haven't played in so long. So
conditioning wise, pretty good. Yana more so than than than Jenna.
You know, Yanna's you know, she looks great physically. She's
(05:48):
had a pretty good September, and Jenna's been off and on,
you know, but both of them, obviously it gives us
a different look than we had. But yeah, no, I'm
I'm happy where both of them are, you know at
this point. And the rest of that group Aubrey, Yeah,
(06:13):
there's nothing going on with that group. They're in various
stages of disrepair, let's put it that way. You know,
Morgan's had some lingering stuff from last year in high school,
and she's doing more and more every day, so hopefully
(06:35):
soon easy's on her regular schedule, you know, and that's
not gonna you know, we're not going to see her
actually playing five on five for a little bit. And
Aubrey hasn't hardly done anything, so she's probably the one
that's you know, uh, and then.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Carol's still Carols.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
She's trying to do as much as she can and
then we try to see how it feels.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But for her it's all.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Kind of guesswork still, you know, and we'll see where
that takes us. But you know, we have ten players
on the floor most of the time, so that's a
that's a huge bonus, you know, relative to.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Where we were. Is it too far out?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
You play your first exhibition game in a month, But
is it too far out to know if any of
that latter group will be ready for the start of
the season.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
The ones we just talked about, No, no, they won't
be ready. No that none of them will be ready.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Asy Aubrey, Carol.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Who Morgan Morgan? I would expect Morgan to be Yes.
The other guys now now they're they're they're not going
to be ready.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Mm hmmm. Bigs.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Look, they can pass the ball and move pretty well.
I mean it looks sluggish out there at times, but
it look like they're pretty fluid.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It it can look really good and it can look
like you don't want to look at it, but there's
it's there.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
You know.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
That. Other than Yana, I think they all feel comfortable
with the ball in their hands, passing it, shooting it.
You know, Yana's role is more play the go rebounded,
finish around the basket, not as much of a playmaker.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
But the other guys feel pretty comfortable doing that.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
It's just a matter of, you know, getting the chemistry
right with with everybody else. Doing it in drills there's
one thing, but doing it when it's live five on
five is a little bit different. But they'll be they'll
be there eventually.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
An ideal world, who's the point guard?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Do you?
Speaker 4 (08:44):
And do you want to keep Page off the ball
as much as possible?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
No?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Not necessarily, Not necessarily. I don't think anything's this is
definitely that. I think it's all, you know, let's just
see what happens, you know. I thought I think there's
benefits to both things. You know, we had a lot
(09:08):
of success last year playing with four guards. I don't
envision us doing that as many as many games this
year as much, but it seems like the more ball
handling guards we have out there, the better. And having
Page on the ball is always a good thing. Having
(09:28):
the ball in Page's hands is always a good thing.
I was probably guilty of not having the ball in
her hands more often last year at times, So I
would be happy if the ball was in her hands
a lot more than it was last year. Whether that means,
you know, she's playing position A, B, C or D,
(09:49):
it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That's just the way it's going to be. You know.
Do you see her trying to be more aggressive you
the offseason?
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's She's living up to what she said,
you know, to the point where I'm okay actually with
her forcing some things because I I'd rather her do
that than be passing things up.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So there have been a lot of times this fall,
you know, in our workouts where we're having to say, hey,
let's get somebody else, Let's have somebody else get a bucket, let.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Somebody else try to score rather than Page, because.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
She's just doing she wants to do it every time
down the floor now, so finding some middle ground there
is going to be. But yeah, this is the most
aggressive I've seen her since she's been here.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
You talk about the new shot tracking system that you
have on the Best Guard. I saw that the Men's
last week, but it wasn't active yet, and now I'm
here today, you guys are active.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Talk about what the benefits are for you.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Used properly, the benefits can help you get real time
information accurately predicting, not predicting, but telling you exactly what
it is that you're doing, as opposed to the original
(11:22):
the the shooting stuff that they've that everybody's used in
the past. It tells you how many you made, how
many of you took, how many you made, and how
many you missed. Well that's great information, except it doesn't
tell you how to get better. So technology is such
that when you make them, this is why you make them.
(11:46):
This is what your shot looks like. When you miss,
this is what it looks like. Here's what your misses
look like, and here's what your makes look like. So
now you can actually address you know why I'm missing
and how can I how can I fix it. Whether
it's you know, it's secure role for everybody, I don't know,
(12:08):
but I think the information that it gives back to
you is stuff that you can actually work on.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
You know, it's not on paper, it's right there, you
can see it. I like it. I like it. I
think it's going to help some of our players a lot.
What are your expectations of Kyk and Ashland team?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
They played so much, what's the next level for them?
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I mean, you would hope that all that playing last
year gives them a lot of experience right to go
to go to another step for them. You would think
that last year everything was a surprise for them. Everything
(12:53):
that happened was new, and you would like to think
that this year it's going to be a little more
comfortable for them, know.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
What to expect.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I think both of them have improved, you know, in
the areas that I was hoping that they would improve,
you know, ask more defensively than anything else, and KK,
I think, understanding more of how to run a team.
So I think they've gotten better at the things that
I wanted them to get better at.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
You know, but they've played a lot of basketball, so
you would expect that to be true with your envision.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Serious rule to be. I mean, what does she do
best for you guys?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Well, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
She hasn't done anything yet, So I would think that,
you know, each game that we play, it'll tell us
a little bit more. People kind of tend to define
their own role, you know, a role that you you
may want for a player in a role that they
feel comfortable and maybe two different things. So I think
(14:08):
a lot of freshmen want to come in and not
have a big role, and you know, I think I
think we need her to have it a role that
impacts winning for us, whatever that means. And there's an
(14:29):
opportunity in our the way we play, in our style
of play, where she can make her role as big
as she wants to make it, because there's no limits
that I'm going to put on her in terms of
you know, this is your role, you can't do this,
you can only do that, and that's going to be
determined by what she does every day in practice.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
That's the way we like to identify roles, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
So I like, I have an idea what it could be,
but I want to see what she thinks it is,
and hopefully we agree.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Just thee a while.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
What you said, Mmmm, yeah, I mean uh uh yeah, yeah.
We had a lot of size last year too, they
just didn't they were all sitting on the bench. So
hopefully the size that we do have will actually be
out on the floor.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
But I always go back to.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
It's pointless if we don't if we don't take advantage
of it, because you might as well not have it then,
you know, And that's one conversation that I have all
the time with our with our players. You know, we
went to we went to the we were one bucket
away from playing in the national championship, and we play
with four guards almost the entire season.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
But if it's the right company sit out there now
fits the right combination and we're bigger, then I obviously
I think that's better. But the people that we're counting
on ices are a veteran. So that's all you need
to know. So let's see what exactly the size means.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Coach, last year, you had a lot of challenges.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
When you reflect on that is just something that you
you've learned as a coach that you can bring to
this year.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
The university that you went through from last year, you know,
last year was.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It was just a struggle to keep it, keep it afloat.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
You know, the uh the entire season was about, uh,
let's make it to the NCAA tournament and see what happens.
Whereas this year so far, knock on wood, we we don't.
We're not We're not thinking let's just keep it afloat.
(17:07):
You know, I think our approach can be a little
bit different. We can be more aggressive, we can experiment
with more things.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Last year we were very cautious.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And very defensive and everything that we did. So I
think what we learned from last year is that we're
good enough to be as good as we need to
be to put ourselves in a position to win a championship.
It's just gonna you know, it's just gonna mean that
(17:39):
a lot of young players who haven't played a lot
of basketball. You know, Nick I played a lot of basketball.
Leah Edwards have played a lot of basketball. You're replacing
those two now with people that haven't played that kind
of basketball for that long, So you just got to
kind of wait for them to catch up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
But it'll be more aggressive rather than more defensive like
it was last year.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
Do you have a hope or expectation for when the
players who won't be with you to start the season
might be.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I would say, if I had the guests, I think
As would probably.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Be back.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Sooner than anybody else. Carol, I don't know, that's guess work.
Aubrey for sure would be after As. I'm thinking certainly
she won't be ready, you know, the first week in
November or the second week of November.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Maybe. I don't know. We'll know more once she starts
getting out there, but.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
I would say before we get into the biggest, most
important parts of our our schedule, keeping my fingers crossed
that you know she can be with us. You know,
during that time she looks great. I mean, she's she
feels great, she's confident. It's just, you know, the world
(19:14):
that we live in today, there's more of a let's
be cautious rather than let's be you know, we've been
through that so you know that that scenario. But yeah,
I think Easy will be back before anybody else.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Cait Win's history at Princeton was playing well in the postseason,
playing well in big games against say, Power Conference teams.
Was that something you liked about her when you notice
her play and What is it about her personality that
you think brings that out and will continue what you hope.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah, I mean if we all had a crystal ball
and knew exactly what we were getting and exactly what
they were going to do, you know, it certainly would
make it boring and pull one.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Sorry, But.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
What I liked about what I liked about Caitlin is again,
she has a she's she's a practice every day.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
She's an incredibly hard worker, she's incredibly.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Aggressive, she's smart, she picks things up very quickly, and
she comes from a from a winning program where they
challenged themselves against the better teams in the country and
they didn't back down from anybody. And I watch her
obviously I think that what she's doing on the court
since she got here in June, with some of the
(20:40):
some of our practice players that she competes against, that's
different for her. They didn't they didn't necessarily do that,
you know, at Princeton, So it's it's taken some time
to get adjusted to the you know, the physicality and
the quickness and the speed of the game. But I
(21:00):
think she has all the qualities that you know, if
she had been here since freshman year, you know, we
would be talking about her as you know, an All American,
you know, and and a really high draft pick. So
there was there were so many things to like about her.
(21:22):
There's a lot of things that she did that I'm
sure drove Carla nuts too. I can see what they
are already, but I don't have I don't have her
for four years. I'm rending her.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
How is Phoenix with Diana's possible?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
How was it? Who knows anymore? You know? Uh, they
were lousy, She was lousy. The game didn't mean anything.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
It was just fun to you know, see her parents
and you know, hang out with them for a little bit.
But what what it meant? I have no idea, you know,
I don't think anybody knows. I think these Yeah, you
know how the is. But I'm glad I went out there.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Is there any question in your mind that she's the
greatest women's basketball player up to this point?
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Well, the problem with the problem with.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Today's world is people have such short attention spans and
such short memories.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
So if you did something last year, they have to
google it because.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Nobody remembers anything beyond two days ago. And if you
did something great twice, then you're the greatest of all
time because somebody that was really great only did it once.
So having somebody that's done what she's done for twenty years.
To the people that are influencers today or whatever they
do today, they have no idea how good she was
(22:54):
or how good you know she was for the game
and the impact that she had. It just her impact
happened at a time when nobody gave a shit. That's
the unfortunate part that if d was twenty one years
old or twenty.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Two years old today, there'd be.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
There'll be no telling what and no one would have
been better prepared to have the time of her life
enjoying all that stuff then she would have. It's just
unfortunate that she was twenty years ahead of her time.
But nobody's done more than she's done. I don't think
(23:32):
when you talk about if you were to line up
all her championships from times she walked in into Gamble
Pavilion till today, I don't know that anybody comes even
close you think about it, counting everywhere your America, WNBA, college,
(24:00):
you name it, for that long m hm. So selfishly,
I hope she keeps playing, and selfishly, I hope she retires,
Like you.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Know, I know she doesn't want to. She's she loves
the game.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
I think this will probably this will probably be the
hardest decision of her entire life.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
If she she calls it quits. So selfishly, I would
like for.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Her to keep playing because I like, I love watching
her play. But I also know she wants to be
at a certain level and if she can't be at
that level, she's not gonna play.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
And it's gonna kill her to have to admit that.
So h
She got hurt, but I don't know what the the
team said that I've not I've not heard that.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Somebody just told me.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
That that she that she had gotten hurt, but nobody
knew what the.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Because it was right before practice.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So it's a lot of basketball man to go from,
you know, playing a college season, playing the w n
B a season, then going right into it's like non NonStop.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Never ending. I don't.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I can't even imagine how how they do it and
how she feels right now. And I don't for somebody
who loves the game as much as she does to
be away from it. So that's really obviously it's sad.
It's sad.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
So I'll try to catch up with it tonight if
I get back. Mmmm.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
What were your impressions of day one?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Uh Uh? I think sometimes, you know, we put too
much emphasis on on what I I think maybe the
expectations sometimes are are a little bit out of out
(01:34):
of whack. I think we as coaches, you know, envision
everybody at at their at their best of what they
can be, and the only thing we remember is what
we look like in March. You know, So when you
look like that in March, you think that there's carryover
and it's gonna look like that the first the first day,
(01:55):
and you know, I practice in October. That's always a
reminder to know it's not you know, like you have
to start all over again. So my impressions first day,
it's like we got to start all over again. And
you really start to see the level of difference in
in the the way the older guys carry themselves and
(02:20):
execute and lost some of the younger guys look. So
it's going to be it's going to be a work.
You know, it's going to be a work. It's gonna
take some time. But you know, their energy was good.
They they were anxious to get going. They were you know,
(02:41):
a beat and so all the things you want them
to be. But it's just gonna take it's gonna take
us some time.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Sarah, Sarah looks pretty good. Is that because she's been
playing USA basketball?
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Or it may just be she's a good player, you know,
so sometimes you know what you see is what really is.
You know, I think the whole month of September there
there hasn't been anybody that's that's separated themselves from you
(03:16):
know that any of the young players, either last year's
freshmen or this year's incoming freshmen. No one has really
separated themselves, and maybe they were just waiting for practice
to start where it's a little more structured, a little
more organized and all that. But you know, she's been
pretty tentative and feeling her way. And you know today,
(03:41):
you know, when you start playing, you start playing for
Rio at practice, you know, your instincts just stick over.
And some people have really good instincts and some people
have not so great instincts. So yeah, she's she's got
a lot of she's got a lot of skills that
she can take advantage of them.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I saw a couple of them today, obviously.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Any early impressions on Caitlin, and it's her adjustment and
easier because of you and Princeton a kind of sort.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Of so on, Uh not really, I mean her adjustment
is it's okay because she she's aggressive, she plays hard,
she attacks with the ball, So just by nature of
her personality, the transition will be not easy, but it'll
(04:30):
be easier than if she was passive and coming from
a program where you know, they're not used to winning
or any of that, any of that stuff, or I
don't know the fact that she's played four years of basketball.
Obviously it shows. But I I more than anything, I
(04:51):
like her approach. I like her attitude or I like
how aggressive she wants to play basketball, you know. And
she's finishes around the basket like she gets the ball
from one place to another and the bowl goes in
a lot when she gets in the lean. So we're
trying to just play through her strengths more than anything.
(05:13):
So Jenna and Yanna out there, just how are they
doing a production of getting back the.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
You know, they're they're a little bit over anxious at
times because they they haven't played in so long. So
conditioning wise, pretty good. Yana more so than than than Jenna.
You know, Yanna's you know, she looks great physically. She's
(05:48):
had a pretty good September, and Jenna's been off and on,
you know, but both of them, obviously it gives us
a different look than we had. But yeah, no, I'm
I'm happy where both of them are, you know at
this point. And the rest of that group Aubrey, Yeah,
(06:13):
there's nothing going on with that group. They're in various
stages of disrepair, let's put it that way. You know,
Morgan's had some lingering stuff from last year in high school,
and she's doing more and more every day, so hopefully
(06:35):
soon easy's on her regular schedule, you know, and that's
not gonna you know, we're not going to see her
actually playing five on five for a little bit. And
Aubrey hasn't hardly done anything, so she's probably the one
that's you know, uh, and then.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Carol's still Carols.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
She's trying to do as much as she can and
then we try to see how it feels.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But for her it's all.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Kind of guesswork still, you know, and we'll see where
that takes us. But you know, we have ten players
on the floor most of the time, so that's a
that's a huge bonus, you know, relative to.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Where we were. Is it too far out?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
You play your first exhibition game in a month, But
is it too far out to know if any of
that latter group will be ready for the start of
the season.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
The ones we just talked about, No, no, they won't
be ready. No that none of them will be ready.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Asy Aubrey, Carol.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Who Morgan Morgan? I would expect Morgan to be Yes.
The other guys now now they're they're they're not going
to be ready.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Mm hmmm. Bigs.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Look, they can pass the ball and move pretty well.
I mean it looks sluggish out there at times, but
it look like they're pretty fluid.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
It it can look really good and it can look
like you don't want to look at it, but there's
it's there.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
You know.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
That. Other than Yana, I think they all feel comfortable
with the ball in their hands, passing it, shooting it.
You know, Yana's role is more play the go rebounded,
finish around the basket, not as much of a playmaker.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
But the other guys feel pretty comfortable doing that.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
It's just a matter of, you know, getting the chemistry
right with with everybody else. Doing it in drills there's
one thing, but doing it when it's live five on
five is a little bit different. But they'll be they'll
be there eventually.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
An ideal world, who's the point guard?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Do you?
Speaker 4 (08:44):
And do you want to keep Page off the ball
as much as possible?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
No?
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Not necessarily, Not necessarily. I don't think anything's this is
definitely that. I think it's all, you know, let's just
see what happens, you know. I thought I think there's
benefits to both things. You know, we had a lot
(09:08):
of success last year playing with four guards. I don't
envision us doing that as many as many games this
year as much, but it seems like the more ball
handling guards we have out there, the better. And having
Page on the ball is always a good thing. Having
(09:28):
the ball in Page's hands is always a good thing.
I was probably guilty of not having the ball in
her hands more often last year at times, So I
would be happy if the ball was in her hands
a lot more than it was last year. Whether that means,
you know, she's playing position A, B, C or D,
(09:49):
it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That's just the way it's going to be. You know.
Do you see her trying to be more aggressive you
the offseason?
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's She's living up to what she said,
you know, to the point where I'm okay actually with
her forcing some things because I I'd rather her do
that than be passing things up.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So there have been a lot of times this fall,
you know, in our workouts where we're having to say, hey,
let's get somebody else, Let's have somebody else get a bucket, let.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Somebody else try to score rather than Page, because.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
She's just doing she wants to do it every time
down the floor now, so finding some middle ground there
is going to be. But yeah, this is the most
aggressive I've seen her since she's been here.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
You talk about the new shot tracking system that you
have on the Best Guard. I saw that the Men's
last week, but it wasn't active yet, and now I'm
here today, you guys are active.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Talk about what the benefits are for you.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Used properly, the benefits can help you get real time
information accurately predicting, not predicting, but telling you exactly what
it is that you're doing, as opposed to the original
(11:22):
the the shooting stuff that they've that everybody's used in
the past. It tells you how many you made, how
many of you took, how many you made, and how
many you missed. Well that's great information, except it doesn't
tell you how to get better. So technology is such
that when you make them, this is why you make them.
(11:46):
This is what your shot looks like. When you miss,
this is what it looks like. Here's what your misses
look like, and here's what your makes look like. So
now you can actually address you know why I'm missing
and how can I how can I fix it. Whether
it's you know, it's secure role for everybody, I don't know,
(12:08):
but I think the information that it gives back to
you is stuff that you can actually work on.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
You know, it's not on paper, it's right there, you
can see it. I like it. I like it. I
think it's going to help some of our players a lot.
What are your expectations of Kyk and Ashland team?
Speaker 5 (12:29):
They played so much, what's the next level for them?
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I mean, you would hope that all that playing last
year gives them a lot of experience right to go
to go to another step for them. You would think
that last year everything was a surprise for them. Everything
(12:53):
that happened was new, and you would like to think
that this year it's going to be a little more
comfortable for them, know.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
What to expect.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I think both of them have improved, you know, in
the areas that I was hoping that they would improve,
you know, ask more defensively than anything else, and KK,
I think, understanding more of how to run a team.
So I think they've gotten better at the things that
I wanted them to get better at.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
You know, but they've played a lot of basketball, so
you would expect that to be true with your envision.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Serious rule to be. I mean, what does she do
best for you guys?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Well, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
She hasn't done anything yet, So I would think that,
you know, each game that we play, it'll tell us
a little bit more. People kind of tend to define
their own role, you know, a role that you you
may want for a player in a role that they
feel comfortable and maybe two different things. So I think
(14:08):
a lot of freshmen want to come in and not
have a big role, and you know, I think I
think we need her to have it a role that
impacts winning for us, whatever that means. And there's an
(14:29):
opportunity in our the way we play, in our style
of play, where she can make her role as big
as she wants to make it, because there's no limits
that I'm going to put on her in terms of
you know, this is your role, you can't do this,
you can only do that, and that's going to be
determined by what she does every day in practice.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
That's the way we like to identify roles, you know.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
So I like, I have an idea what it could be,
but I want to see what she thinks it is,
and hopefully we agree.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Just thee a while.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
What you said, Mmmm, yeah, I mean uh uh yeah, yeah.
We had a lot of size last year too, they
just didn't they were all sitting on the bench. So
hopefully the size that we do have will actually be
out on the floor.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
But I always go back to.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
It's pointless if we don't if we don't take advantage
of it, because you might as well not have it then,
you know, And that's one conversation that I have all
the time with our with our players. You know, we
went to we went to the we were one bucket
away from playing in the national championship, and we play
with four guards almost the entire season.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
But if it's the right company sit out there now
fits the right combination and we're bigger, then I obviously
I think that's better. But the people that we're counting
on ices are a veteran. So that's all you need
to know. So let's see what exactly the size means.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Coach, last year, you had a lot of challenges.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
When you reflect on that is just something that you
you've learned as a coach that you can bring to
this year.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
The university that you went through from last year, you know,
last year was.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It was just a struggle to keep it, keep it afloat.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
You know, the uh the entire season was about, uh,
let's make it to the NCAA tournament and see what happens.
Whereas this year so far, knock on wood, we we don't.
We're not We're not thinking let's just keep it afloat.
(17:07):
You know, I think our approach can be a little
bit different. We can be more aggressive, we can experiment
with more things.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Last year we were very cautious.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And very defensive and everything that we did. So I
think what we learned from last year is that we're
good enough to be as good as we need to
be to put ourselves in a position to win a championship.
It's just gonna you know, it's just gonna mean that
(17:39):
a lot of young players who haven't played a lot
of basketball. You know, Nick I played a lot of basketball.
Leah Edwards have played a lot of basketball. You're replacing
those two now with people that haven't played that kind
of basketball for that long, So you just got to
kind of wait for them to catch up a little bit.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
But it'll be more aggressive rather than more defensive like
it was last year.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
Do you have a hope or expectation for when the
players who won't be with you to start the season
might be.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I would say, if I had the guests, I think
As would probably.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Be back.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Sooner than anybody else. Carol, I don't know, that's guess work.
Aubrey for sure would be after As. I'm thinking certainly
she won't be ready, you know, the first week in
November or the second week of November.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Maybe. I don't know. We'll know more once she starts
getting out there, but.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
I would say before we get into the biggest, most
important parts of our our schedule, keeping my fingers crossed
that you know she can be with us. You know,
during that time she looks great. I mean, she's she
feels great, she's confident. It's just, you know, the world
(19:14):
that we live in today, there's more of a let's
be cautious rather than let's be you know, we've been
through that so you know that that scenario. But yeah,
I think Easy will be back before anybody else.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Cait Win's history at Princeton was playing well in the postseason,
playing well in big games against say, Power Conference teams.
Was that something you liked about her when you notice
her play and What is it about her personality that
you think brings that out and will continue what you hope.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Yeah, I mean if we all had a crystal ball
and knew exactly what we were getting and exactly what
they were going to do, you know, it certainly would
make it boring and pull one.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Sorry, But.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
What I liked about what I liked about Caitlin is again,
she has a she's she's a practice every day.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
She's an incredibly hard worker, she's incredibly.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Aggressive, she's smart, she picks things up very quickly, and
she comes from a from a winning program where they
challenged themselves against the better teams in the country and
they didn't back down from anybody. And I watch her
obviously I think that what she's doing on the court
since she got here in June, with some of the
(20:40):
some of our practice players that she competes against, that's
different for her. They didn't they didn't necessarily do that,
you know, at Princeton, So it's it's taken some time
to get adjusted to the you know, the physicality and
the quickness and the speed of the game. But I
(21:00):
think she has all the qualities that you know, if
she had been here since freshman year, you know, we
would be talking about her as you know, an All American,
you know, and and a really high draft pick. So
there was there were so many things to like about her.
(21:22):
There's a lot of things that she did that I'm
sure drove Carla nuts too. I can see what they
are already, but I don't have I don't have her
for four years. I'm rending her.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
How is Phoenix with Diana's possible?
Speaker 2 (21:39):
How was it? Who knows anymore? You know? Uh, they
were lousy, She was lousy. The game didn't mean anything.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
It was just fun to you know, see her parents
and you know, hang out with them for a little bit.
But what what it meant? I have no idea, you know,
I don't think anybody knows. I think these Yeah, you
know how the is. But I'm glad I went out there.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
I enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Is there any question in your mind that she's the
greatest women's basketball player up to this point?
Speaker 2 (22:17):
Well, the problem with the problem with.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
Today's world is people have such short attention spans and
such short memories.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
So if you did something last year, they have to
google it because.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Nobody remembers anything beyond two days ago. And if you
did something great twice, then you're the greatest of all
time because somebody that was really great only did it once.
So having somebody that's done what she's done for twenty years.
To the people that are influencers today or whatever they
do today, they have no idea how good she was
(22:54):
or how good you know she was for the game
and the impact that she had. It just her impact
happened at a time when nobody gave a shit. That's
the unfortunate part that if d was twenty one years
old or twenty.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Two years old today, there'd be.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
There'll be no telling what and no one would have
been better prepared to have the time of her life
enjoying all that stuff then she would have. It's just
unfortunate that she was twenty years ahead of her time.
But nobody's done more than she's done. I don't think
(23:32):
when you talk about if you were to line up
all her championships from times she walked in into Gamble
Pavilion till today, I don't know that anybody comes even
close you think about it, counting everywhere your America, WNBA, college,
(24:00):
you name it, for that long m hm. So selfishly,
I hope she keeps playing, and selfishly, I hope she retires,
Like you.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Know, I know she doesn't want to. She's she loves
the game.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
I think this will probably this will probably be the
hardest decision of her entire life.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
If she she calls it quits. So selfishly, I would
like for.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
Her to keep playing because I like, I love watching
her play. But I also know she wants to be
at a certain level and if she can't be at
that level, she's not gonna play.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
And it's gonna kill her to have to admit that.
So h
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