University of Tennessee Athletics
Quotes from Elite 8 Press Conference
March 31, 2008 | Women's Basketball
THE MODERATOR:?? We are being joined by the University of Tennessee Volunteers.?? We're glad to have you here, Coach, congratulations on your win yesterday.
??PAT SUMMITT:?? Thank you.
??THE MODERATOR:?? Coach, your thoughts about last night's game?
??COACH SUMMITT:?? It was two different halves for us.?? I thought the first half we really didn't step up with our defensive game plan and execute the way that we had hoped going into the game, which obviously put us in a tough situation.
??I thought the second half was a much better game.?? Obviously a much stronger commitment to our defense, our board play, and I just think our basketball team knows what they have to do, and you just leave that behind and move forward, and that's exactly what we're going to do and then get prepared for Texas A&M in the next couple of days.
??Q.?? Shannon, when you were playing in the JUCO ranks and understood that Tennessee was thinking you're a good fit, did you ever think you would be sitting here talking to us about this kinda run in the NCAA Tournament?
??SHANNON BOBBITT:?? No.?? I did not think I was going to play for Ms. Pat Summitt, but I'm so happy that I made this decision.?? I'm happy I'm here, and if I wasn't at this program, I was cheering for Tennessee.?? I'm just glad I'm here and playing for Ms. Pat Summitt.
??Q.?? If anybody wants to weigh in on the documented stare of the coach to your immediate left, that would be wonderful, because she sure as heck was giving it to you last night, until that second half, of course.
??COACH SUMMITT:?? I want to hear.
??CANDACE PARKER:?? It's not so fun now that she's sitting here.?? Obviously she had a reason to stare at us, stare through us yesterday.?? In the first half we didn't come out ready to play, but we regrouped because of the stare, and came back in the second half and played a lot better as a team.
??Q.?? Nicky, you have played so many teams, but this team has never played Texas A&M; I think the last time was 1997.?? Are you looking forward to seeing a new opponent?
??NICKY ANOSIKE:?? Yes, it's fun when we get to play a different team.?? Sometimes during the season you play a team two and three times, and it's harder because you pick up each other's habits.?? But we're definitely ready for a challenge.?? They're a great team.?? It will be fun to play someone new.
??Q.?? Candace and Alexis, the Texas A&M players yesterday felt like Duke didn't take them serious at all.?? They thought that Duke thought they would roll through them.?? What do you think of A&M, a team that's not on TV very much, a team that isn't shown on the east coast hardly at all, really.?? What do you think about the Aggies?
??ALEXIS HORNBUCKLE:?? I think that they're a team that gets up and down the court, they're aggressive, they get into the passing lanes, and you have to respect every opponent, and that's what we try to do here at Tennessee, because we realize we have a target on our back.?? We have to respect them; they didn't get here by luck.
??CANDACE PARKER:?? Obviously you can't overlook a 2 seed.?? They were a 2 seed for a reason.?? They finished up the season very well, the regular season.?? We're not going to overlook them, and we know that they play with a lot of energy, and we have to match that.
??Q.?? Candace, you've played with Alexis for quite a while.?? What does having a guard like that mean for a player who predominantly played on the inside?
??CANDACE PARKER:?? It means a lot.?? Playing with Alexis, she is obviously a great penetrating guard.?? She stepped out and hit the three this year.?? She is just an energizer, she is always going to bring a lot of energy to our team, and I've enjoyed playing with her for three years.
??Q.?? Alberta, you moved into the starting lineup for the postseason.?? Can you talk about your role and how you're approaching that this time?
??ALBERTA AUGUSTE:?? I think my role is the same as when I'm coming off the bench, bring the defensive intensity, contribute to the ball pressure and also on the offensive end, getting offensive rebounds and driving into the paint.
??Q.?? Shannon, have you had a chance to look at the play of their guard, A'Quo, No. 10??? You guys have similar styles.?? She is very aggressive and spirited out there.?? Have you had a chance to see any film on her?
??SHANNON BOBBITT:?? I have not watched film with the team, but I have seen her play, and she is very aggressive, quick, and their emotional leader.?? And she definitely can step out and shoot the three ball.?? It's going to be a great game plan against them, and I just look forward to it.
??THE MODERATOR:?? Thank you, ladies.?? Questions for COACH SUMMITT?
??Q.?? Pat, Big 12 teams always do much better the second time around against each other in conference play, because they've seen it and they know what to expect with their defense.?? As you look at Texas A&M film, what is so special about Vic Schaefer's defense??? They do a good job of harassing people and making them uncomfortable.
??COACH SUMMITT:?? It all starts with their defense, and they're high energy players, obviously athletic, they're committed to playing hard.?? They're committed to supporting each other.?? To me, you know, they?????? they just bring a type of defense that makes a lot of teams uncomfortable, and obviously they score off of their turnovers.
??They play a lot faster defensively than they do offensively.?? What happens is their defensive pressure generates opportunities for them in the open court.
??You know, I think Franklin is obviously a key.?? Not only is she super quick, but she's the player that I think just leads by example and what they want to do.?? She's the one that makes them go.
??Q.?? Can you talk about Danielle Gant??? She sat out the whole second half last night, but talk about her and the challenges she presents.
??COACH SUMMITT:?? Obviously she can post up, she's a catch and shoot player, she can do a lot of things; she can bring the ball up.?? When you talk about versatility, I think you're talking about a player?????? there is more than one dimension to her game.?? For that, obviously, just her ability to lead a team?????? you know, you look at the board play, she contributes in a lot of different ways.
??Some players you can count on to score, but are they going to do the other aspects of the game, and obviously she's very, very committed.?? I think that brings some stability to their team.
??Q.?? Pat, Candace suffered 12 fouls last night, which is among the high?????? among the highs that she's had this year.?? Was that kind of a "hack a Shaq" mentality, you think??? And how has the opponent sort of defended her over the past three years?
??COACH SUMMITT:?? Well, I think last night Candace recognized that we were not executing as well offensively, and I think the team recognized that.?? And when I got so upset was when I just thought we were just jump shooting the basketball,?? and we were careless.?? We let our offense affect our defense.?? That was the worst half of defense I've had to sit and watch in a long time.?? It was ugly.
??Yet, at the same time, I thought the team recognized the fact that we were struggling, and they got the ball inside to Candace.?? I say, we want "paint points," whether you get there off the dribble or off of Candace getting touches, but we've got to get paint points.?? And that allowed us to go in at halftime not feeling like we had dug ourselves a deep hole.
??You know, we were supposed to trap ball screens, and I think it was 16 times maybe that they set ball screens or maybe 13 times, but we just went over this in our scouting report, because it was 13 possessions in the first half, that we were supposed to trap, and we only trapped twice.
??That's a glaring lack of discipline to your system, and we pointed that out because that can't happen against Texas A&M, no matter what our scheme is.?? If we're hedging, if we run a Velcro, whatever our action is, we've got to be very disciplined on the defensive end and not let our offense affect our offense.?? Because this Texas A&M team is going to turn you over and get into you, and we've got to be really efficient offensively and be mindful of taking care of the basketball.
??Q.?? Coach, can you talk about your experience, will it be a factor tomorrow??? You've been here so many times and Texas A&M is playing in their first Elite 8 game.
??COACH SUMMITT:?? I've never scored a basket in postseason.?? Gary Blair is a great coach, I played against him in the league and now we're meeting in this setting, but I do feel like we have a veteran team.?? I'll be disappointed if our seniors are not on top of their game and the leadership is not in place.?? I expect us to play a much better game, because I think we learned from our first half last night.
??We're always learning, continuing to try and get better and be more efficient.?? But I don't know that me being on the bench is going to make a difference at all.?? I feel like sometimes I'm more of a cheerleader at this point.?? You want them to feel good, you want to keep them focused, and that's my job.
??I can get their attention when I need to; it seems to happen at times that you need to.?? But I told them today, I've got three great assistants, and we're going to work hard and we're going to prepare them for this game, but ultimately the players have to play the game.
??Q.?? Coach, I watched Duke and A&M play yesterday.?? It was interesting to me because Duke came out with an enormous amount of pressure.?? They both, did but Duke seemed to have more to me, and throughout the game A&M seemed to wear them down.?? At the end they seemed to be completely fatigued.?? At this stage of the game, how concerning is that for you and how do you balance that out?
??COACH SUMMITT:?? Well, I think you?????? there will be spurts, Lisa, that's part of the game.?? That's what happens with the changes and who has the momentum.?? I always believe the way to put the brakes on is with your defense and your board play, to influence.?? Fatigue does not concern me with this team.?? I think we're one of the most well conditioned teams in the country.?? You look how many minutes that a lot of our players play, and the one thing that I have learned throughout my career is, you know, what you do in preparation now is?????? we won't spend much time in practice today doing anything other than walking through.
??Between our Purdue game and coming here, we never went full court.?? Everything was half court, most everything was walk through.?? We kept our offense sharp in that regard.?? Same thing will happen here, because we will meet our legs against Texas A&M, and I think last night was a good indication that we had our legs.?? We were sharp in the second half, and typically we are a second half team.
??Q.?? You mentioned Gary Blair.?? I wonder if you would comment on his unique personality and any experiences you have had with him.
??COACH SUMMITT:?? Gary is always whining, they're not a very good team, not sure how he got here!?? That's how he was in the conference, you know, he was always, "I don't know about this team," but you know you can't believe a word he says in that regard, because he knows he's got a great team, he really does.?? This team is?????? it's fun to watch just the energy level that they play with.
??And, you know, I have tremendous respect for Gary.?? I consider him a friend in this profession, and you don't have a lot of 'em.?? So Gary certainly is someone that I consider a friend.?? I miss him being in the conference because of all the meetings that?????? he was always one to speak up, and it took him quite a while to get everything said, but that was okay.
??Q.?? Talk about Candace and the fact that she has so many, I guess, pressures of being a face and name for this game right now, and yet when the clock is running, she plays like those things don't even matter.?? Can you talk about the balance she strikes that way?
??COACH SUMMITT:?? Well, first thing I want to say is Candace Parker is the best player in the women's game, and there has been a lot of questions or suggestions who is the best player.?? My comment on that is, the big question should be who is the best player in the world??? Is it Candace Parker or is it Lauren Jackson?
??I don't think in the college game, if you watch Candace play and what she brings, and to get to what she does bring, obviously she brings a game of being able to post up, being able to score in transition by running the floor, being able to score off the dribble.?? I think, you know, her skill set is so strong, and how many 6 5 players have you seen ever in the women's game play the way Candace Parker plays?
??She brought a whole different dimension and package.?? So what she does for us is?????? you know, it's so significant because I think she brings so much attention that her teammates benefit from that, but she also is unselfish and wants to be a great teammate, sometimes to a fault.?? Is there anything else in that question you want to know?
??Q.?? Just how she balances the off court, questions, autographs, all of this, being the face of the game right now?
??COACH SUMMITT:?? We try to protect our players, and certainly with Candace after games, you know, she'll have an autograph night, as every player does at our home contest, but aside from that, just trying to protect her.?? We have open practices?????? sometimes we may have 100 people come watch practice.?? After practice, I just let 'em know that the players have class, so they're not going to be able to sign.
??I've been really sensitive to the demands on Candace, and Shannon has been a very popular player, Alexis is a popular player.?? So that's something we're mindful of?????? not being disrespectful to our fans.?? We love our fans.?? I think a lot of times I try to step up and help out in that regard.
??Q.?? Notre Dame said yesterday that your transition is one of the things that shut them down.?? How are you guys going to address that coming against an aggressive A&M defense?
??COACH SUMMITT:?? I don't think we'll change what we do in our transition.?? I think identifying the ball is a priority, always, for us.?? Doing what we can do to slow the ball down?????? it's slowing the ball down and always use the concept of our team, it's all about what the ball can see in transition.?? If we do a great job of matching up and not letting them see someone sprinting to the paint, not allowing the long passes.
??It takes a the lot longer to dribble the ball the length of floor than it does to pass it, so we have to be mindful of pressuring the basketball and extending our defense and taking away long passes.
??Q.?? A lots been made of preparing for A&M's defense and trying to simulate that in practice.?? I think Coach McCallie mentioned it was tough to simulate that.?? Have you prepared for that style of defense this year, and how do you intend to simulate it going into tomorrow?
??COACH SUMMITT:?? Well, I think we're a decent defensive team, and the one way we prepared before we caught our plane to come here was with our practice guys, just overplaying us.?? And as I said, we didn't go full court, just worked in the half court.?? I think our schedule has been such that we've gone against a lot of athletic teams.?? Obviously playing LSU twice was good preparation because they have size and they also get after you, not only in the half court game but the full court game.
??Looking at our schedule overall and the number of athletic teams we have faced?????? now, have we faced someone that is as relentless on defense as A&M??? Probably not.
??But, you know, I think that, again, there's similarities in the two teams.?? Just taking care of the basketball is going to be very important for us.
??Q.?? Speaking of defense, I wonder if you would talk about the impact Alexis has on your defense, the number of steals she had in the previous round game and then a couple more last night?
??COACH SUMMITT:?? Well, Alexis, I think her game starts with defense, and just her commitment to get in the passing lanes.?? She's great on the ball.?? She is even more dangerous off the ball because she does have great awareness, great anticipation, and she is a risk taker.?? I think she's constantly look and she'll gamble, but for the most part, she's so heady in making those reads and one of the best all around guards I've coached at Tennessee.
??She obviously, you know, just gets out and gambles and gets after it and she's passionate about defense.?? Last night she didn't shoot the ball well, of course, she is wanting to settle for three balls, and she needs to get paint points, so she'll do that tomorrow.?? At the same time you look at her, I think she had nine boards, she was all over the glass, so the thing about Alexis is she's going to do the dirty work, and it's hard to get sometimes great athletes, high profile players that say, "Hey, Coach, let me guard the best player," or "I'll get to the glass.?? I'll get to the boards!"
THE MODERATOR:?? Thank you very much, Coach.?? Best of luck tomorrow.??
THE MODERATOR:?? We're joined by the Texas A&M University Aggies, and Head Coach Gary Blair.?? Comments, Coach?
COACH BLAIR:?? First it's great to be playing March 30th, you're going to play your next ballgame April 1st.?? It's away it's been a long season but in another way it's been the most rewarding season that I've been a part of.?? These kids have played their hearts out.?? The kids have overcome diversities, due to injuries during the year, and when the injuries happen, we don't dwell on them, we just put another person in place and we go on.
And this is what this team is about.?? If Starks is having a bad game, then Morenike Atunrase picks her up.?? If A'Quo is having a bad game, the freshman, Sidney Colson comes in.?? If we need to move Gant to the 4 position because Morenike is hot, Reado comes out.?? If we have Micheaux in foul trouble, Reado goes to the 5 and we play "small ball."
It's been fun coaching this team because we have interchangeable parts.?? Our egos are all in check, we're on the same page, and these kids really like each other off the court.?? I think that's a whole lot easier to coach.?? I've got a tremendous staff, I've got a tremendous support staff, and when you're all on the same page, that's why you're playing late in the season.?? The game last night, I thought we just hooked up and we played as hard as we could.
We had great defense, great transition in the first half, in the second half I thought our half court offense and our press breaking was excellent.?? That's why we won the game, and we're still going.?? Open it up for questions.
Q.?? A'Quo, how do you put that game behind??? It's so vivid, the biggest win in school history, how do you go about putting that go game behind and focus on Tennessee???
A'QUONESIA FRANKLIN:?? Just that we got the "W" and we have to look forward to our next opponent.?? We did a tremendous job of pressuring the ball and causing tremendous defense and making them uncomfortable, and we're going to go into the next game and keep our same game plan and pressure up on defense.
Q.?? La Toya, Tennessee has seems like 6 3 after 6 3, you guys are going to be busy.?? How are you going to stop 'em inside???
LA TOYA MICHEAUX:?? We faced that in this whole conference, Courtney Parish and Oklahoma and Colorado, we did that last night.?? We have to keep battling and we fight and don't stop, so that will continue on for tomorrow.
Q.?? T.K., Patrice, could you answer this??? Could y'all talk about Vic and what has your defensive coordinator meant to this team and how much does he ride you when things aren't going good, and how much does he praise you, which doesn't seem to be very often, unless the game is over and you win by 30 or 40.?? Is there ever a perfect defensive game for coach Schafer?
PATRICE READO:?? I don't know.?? It doesn't matter if you're up by 20 or down by 20, he's going to be the same.?? He's a defensive coordinator, he wants us to play his style of defense.?? He wants us in the passing lanes and covering the post and defending and everything else.?? So we just have to give him our best and try to play the type of defense that he wants us to play every game.
TAKIA STARKS:?? You know, just to echo what Reado said.?? He just wants us to get out and deny, do all the fundamentals of his style of defense.?? He did praise me in the shootaround today.?? He said he did a great job of defense and also the team last night in the game.?? He's always going to push us to do better and be the best that we can be.
Q.?? Explain to me why is y'all's defense so different than everyone else's??? Why is it different than what everyone in the Big 12 does, and why is it different than what everybody in the country does???
TAKIA STARKS:?? Everybody plays hard, as Coach says all the time, but you've got to play hard and smart and I think that's where we've really gotten better this year, being smart and making smart plays and making game changing plays at that.
PATRICE READO:?? I think we play very hard, we pressure up on the defensive end, and we stay in the passing lanes.
Q.?? A'Quo, you're sitting next to him, but I wonder, you get the intensity from Coach Schaefer, but do you ever see that from Coach Blair or is he always Mr. Nice Guy for you guys???
A'QUONESIA FRANKLIN:?? He's the soft one, but he has his days where he's very tough on us, but he's a little teddy bear.
(Coach hugged player.)
THE MODERATOR:?? Coach, are you supposed to do that?
COACH BLAIR:?? Probably not; I'm sure its an NCAA violation.?? Hopefully the recruits will notice that I do hug and kiss my players.
Q.?? Takia, can you talk about the challenges?????? you guys obviously relish the defensive?????? playing defense and getting in people's face, pressure, trapping.?? Talk about the challenges Tennessee presents to doing that kinda thing.??
TAKIA STARKS:?? We are just going to go into it like we went into the game yesterday, just playing our game on defense and playing our game on offense, just making smart plays, and I think we did a great job last night with Reado not getting into foul trouble as much as she usually does.?? That was big for us, and, Micheaux, she was out for a minute but came in and was productive, staying out of foul trouble and making smart plays and playing with pressure as we usually do.
Q.?? For A'Quo and Takia, Takia, you talked yesterday about there not being so much pressure or more of a chip on the shoulders for the bigger names.?? You guys are a No. 2 seed.?? I wonder where the disrespect or the lack of acknowledgment comes from considering you're a No. 2 seed.??
A'QUONESIA FRANKLIN:?? Just coming out of high school, most of those Duke and Tennessee girls were Parade All Americans.?? Here at A&M there's no Parade All Americans, I think we have one All American, which is Tyra White, the freshman, but we just come out and play hard day in and day out.?? The other girls with the names, the Duke's and Tennessee's with the names, they are expected to play that way every game.
So I feel like they have the chip on their shoulder simply because they have the?????? their names are out there, and we're making names for ourselves.
Q.?? Morenike, if you look at the starting lineups for tomorrow night's game, it's all juniors and seniors, a lot of experience.?? What do you expect out of a game like that?
MORENIKE ATUNRASE:?? I think the same thing with both of us, because we are?????? they've been to the big games, and we're headed there, so there will be a lot of competition and a lot of just scratching and clawing out there.?? We know what to expect, and you'll see a lot of hustle plays and playing hard and making spectacular plays.
Q.?? Morenike, you've been known lately as instant offense, but last night you had four key offensive rebounds.?? Do you see your role changing??? Talk about your role on this team.??
MORENIKE ATUNRASE:?? My role hasn't changed since before my surgery.?? I don't think it has changed much.?? I've gotten back to?????? into an offensive state of mind and that has come with me feeling better physically and mentally on the court, but I don't think my role has changed that much.?? When Danielle or Reado are out of the game, I stick to the game plan, go in and get rebounds or blocked shots and that's been my game plan since I've been at A&M.
Q.?? For the three seniors, can you talk about how much this is?????? you guys aren't ready to quit playing college basketball and what that does to keep you going in these games??? And a shot at Tennessee!?? I mean, what you guys have built this program up from to where you are now, and what this game means to you???
A'QUONESIA FRANKLIN:?? I think that's one of the reasons why we came to Texas A&M, you know, is to be able to be at a program that's on the rise and not a program that already had a name for itself.?? And just to play against Tennessee, being in the Elite Eight is an honor to us, and we're really excited to be here.?? We made it this far, why stop now?
PATRICE READO:?? Like A'Quo said, that's one of the reasons we came to A&M to bring the program up.?? I think we're excited to be here in the Elite Eight, and we're going to continue with the pace and right now we just are one of the best right now.
MORENIKE ATUNRASE:?? We've worked hard for it. Coming to A&M, there was no doubt in my mind that we can't reach the highs that we are at right now.?? The coaching staff that Coach Blair had, I knew coming here he knew how to coach and what type of players to go after, so there was no doubt in my mind that we wouldn't reach the goals we have reached.
Q.?? A'Quo, Coach Blair mentioned last night the second half of you showing what you can do for the WNBA and trying to get invited to the Combine.?? How big is that for you, trying to show what you can do and go to the next level???
MORENIKE ATUNRASE:?? I did what I could for my team.?? First half Coach brought me to the sidelines and said, "I need a couple of shots out of you and I need you to lead this team."?? I think I was 0 for something in the first half and had two back to back turnovers on Duke's press, so in the second half I wanted to do what I had to do for my team, hit the open shots, break the press and lead the team to a "W!"
Q.??La Toya, can you talk about the challenge of playing an all around talent such as Candace Parker???
LA TOYA MICHEAUX:?? It's a challenge every time you step out on the court, no matter who you're playing, but, of course, her name is everywhere, and it's an honor to play against her and honor to play against Tennessee.?? They've won 7 National Championships, so what can you say.?? It is a challenge for our team.?? Like Coach said, against Duke, we were on a high, and if we get the win over Tennessee, it's just something that we have been asking our Coach, give us a nice schedule.?? Well, we made our own schedule this year.
THE MODERATOR:?? Thank you, athletes.?? Good luck, ladies.?? Okay, questions for Coach Blair.?? What did you see out of Sam Houston in the early 90s, and what is it you learned about Vic on the golf course that made you like this guy, and think you've got to get him on your staff and the bond you have formed?
COACH BLAIR:?? To be honest, the first time I met him, Gary Wideman was our Converse rep, and he said I want you to meet the new coach at Steven F., so we went over to Water Wood, the golf course, met him at about high noon.?? It's about 100 degrees, here I am in shorts and looking good as usual, and here comes Vic out there in polyester long pants, with sunglasses hanging down, you know the guys that have the straps over 'em, his hair slicked back like that, and I thought he was salesman or something like that.
And all of the sudden we started playing, and we developed a very good bond of a friendship, because our program was at the top of the Southland conference, and his was at the bottom.
I would try to share a lot of recruiting ideas or knowledge with him, because they didn't have the budget to get out to some of the places, and if I could see a kid that we couldn't use that he could use, I would give him that information and just try to help him along.?? Then, you know, it's funny, he was too proud to take any strokes from me.?? And at the time I was about a 7, 8, 9, handicapper, and he was probably about a 12, 13, 14, but all of the sudden as time went on, his basketball teams started getting better and better.
His golf game started getting better and better.?? Then he met Holly, his wife who was the women's assistant coach at UTA; they never could beat UTA until he married Holly.
He married Holly, she gave up coaching and that's the only way?????? Vic never beat UTA when Holly was the assistant over there.?? But a lot of things changed.?? He started dressing better, his golf game got a whole lot better, and we became friends.?? When I had the chance?????? when Tom Collin got the head job at Colorado State, Vic was the only person I wanted.?? Not just because of our friendship, because he could do a lot with nothing.?? He could sit there and take the two twins, Amy and Andi Sheridan, who was his guards out there, and he could take a lot of cast offs from other programs, develop them, and he could find the sleepers and develop kids.
That was the type of coach I was looking for, somebody that was passionate about the game of basketball and passionate about life.
The only bad thing is now I can beat him in golf 1 out of 10 now, because I'm still the 7, 8, 9, and he's a 3 handicapper now.
Q.?? What's the secret to his defense???
COACH BLAIR:?? Because he's the 12th man, if you go by Aggie terms.?? He's the 12th man, because it's his passion for the game than when they're playing defense, they're either hearing him or feeling him out there as part of that defense.?? And that's a little bit of an Aggie thing but that's how there's always somebody there to step in and help.?? Defense is about trust.?? You've got to trust the people behind you, because we're fronting the post.?? You've got to trust the people that's guarding the ball because we're going to be in your shorts, and you're going to beat us by dribble penetration.?? And that's what happened last night with Duke, and as soon as they beat us on dribble penetration, we were there to take three charges.
We work a lot of the same drills we've been working on for years.?? We tweak 'em, they get better and better, the personnel gets better, and I've told people before this team is better than the '98 team I took to the Final Four, and a lot of that is because our system is better.?? I'm a better offensive coach, and he's a better defensive coach, and our personnel seems to be executing better right now.
Q.?? Coach, Daniel Gant's condition and whether you expect her to be full strength tomorrow??? Second, like a lot of coaches and fans, you've seen plenty of Candace Parker on TV.?? Is it a dream come true or a nightmare come true to stop her???
COACH BLAIR:?? First, on Danielle Gant, she was able to walk through our stuff today.?? She had stomach problems again this morning after breakfast, but if I'm going to be there, she's going to be there.?? And I plan on playing, and she's going to play; somehow, some way.
There is no tomorrow, okay??? If you've got the flu, you play.?? If you've got stomach problems or something, you play.?? And she will find a way.?? Our trainer will make sure she's ready to go.?? If not, I'll be looking for a new trainer.?? But other than that, she will find a way.?? The kid's got a lot of heart.?? It was pretty scary yesterday when that trainer comes down and says, "Danielle Gant cannot go."?? You don't understand, that's like saying Candace Parker can't go.?? It's not going to happen, because Gant goes every day, and nobody plays harder in practice or in games than Gant, but she will be out there.
Now on Candace Parker.?? You know, right now what's going on in the hotel; they're showing all the games of the National Championships and semifinals for 25, 27 years.?? I'm a part of every one of those.?? Every game you see on TV, I've either been a part of it or been to?????? I've been to every Final Four, I've played against every one of those kids, and this is the best.?? This is the best, and she's proving it.?? She doesn't have to wait until her career is over.
I've seen Liebermann, I've sheen Cheryl Miller, played against her, she cost us a couple of National Championships when she beat us in '83, '84; we won the two before that.?? Tamika Catchings, Holsclaw was a genuine talent that could change the game, Lynette Woodard, Kansas; Janice Lawrence, Louisiana Tech, who we helped coach and everything like that.
I didn't get a chance to go against Ann Meyers; it was right after that I got into the college game, and she was a great one.?? Carol Blaskowski was a little bit before my time, but Candace Parker is the best one I've seen.?? She can play all five positions, she is 6 4 or?? 5, and she's exactly what the WNBA needs right now, because she's going to go to a media capital.
And I know you would love to have her in Chicago, but LA would be awfully stupid not to take her because of what she can bring back to the league.?? But Candace Parker's just special.
Q.?? How are you going to neutralize Candace Parker???
COACH BLAIR:?? I think you got to give help?????? we cannot play like Notre Dame did.?? That's their style.?? Notre Dame had a tremendous game plan.?? They ran a three quarter press to take time off the court, see if they would throw it away or see if they would disrupt them a little.
You've got to take those backdoor lobs when she goes flying in the area; hopefully she will be under the charge, or whatever, you're going to have to keep her off the free throw line, like we tried to with Chante Black and make sure if Chante Black is going to beat us, it's going to be with a two point play not a three point play.?? Try to limit her touches, because she can jump over everybody.?? And the key is keeping her off the offensive boards, but at the same time you've got to do the same thick with Nicky as well.
We're going to have our work cutout for us.?? So a lot of times we might be able to front her and get backside help, and she still might be able to jump over and catch and finish at the same time.?? Sometimes you pat her on the back and try to shutdown the others, but the "others" are pretty good.
Q.?? Coach, Coach Summitt said she missed you at the conferences, and she gave us her best imitation of you.?? I was curious about your relationship with her and maybe give us your best impression of her.??
COACH BLAIR:?? Pat is special.?? I met her in 1977 working a basketball camp at North Texas. Sara Rappe was the coach there, one of her teammates in the Pan American Games and Pat and Billy Moore came down to work, and I was a high school coach, just won my first state championship, and I thought I was somebody until I met Pat.?? And Pat was young, just really getting started there.?? I played pick up with her one day and she tore me another one, okay?
In my eyes, she was Candace Parker!?? (Laughter.) And she would throw the elbow, she'd do this, behind the back passes, the whole nine yards, and I thought, golly, who is this??? It was funny.?? We developed a friendship, and later on I went to LA Tech, and as an assistant we played Tennessee every year in the regular season game, or we would play them in the NCAA Tournament.
So you would just get used to it.?? Then when I got to the SEC, she was?????? Pat can walk into this room here and make every person in this room feel important, and not too many people can do that.?? She can walk into a reception, and whether you're a junior high coach or college coach, whether you're Nancy Lieberman or Debbie Antonelli, she gives time to everybody, it's a special trait that she has.?? Our families I wouldn't say were real close, because we've been competitors, but we were at Sandestin together, always at the SEC tournaments and her son, Tyler, when I was at Arkansas, I sent him a "Hog" hat and Pat said, "My God, the kid wears it all around the house."
So two days ago I saw him over at the marble slab creamery, and my wife was over there, and he's a junior in high school looking like a great young man.?? Pat is special because of what she's meant to the game.?? Because she has mentored a lot of young coaches that are now out there coaching.?? She's doing it the right way, she recruits the right way, she coaches hard, and she prepares well, and she always has a good staff.
To me that's someone you should look up to, both on and off the court.?? I tell you one thing, she is not going to me out there singing "Rocky Top" in some little short skirt like she had to do there.?? I don't know who sounded worse, her singing or Bruce Pearl with no shirt on.?? That's not going to happen for me either way.
Q.?? Any memorable games between you and her in the SEC, and are you hoping for the most memorable tomorrow???
COACH BLAIR:?? 77 75 we beat her for the only time at Arkansas, December 29th.?? My two little guards, Christy Smith, my point guard, and Kim Wilson, my sixth footer, had 42 points against Tennessee, and we won 77 75.?? And that was the year they had 10 losses and still won the National Championship.?? That one meant a whole lot.?? The next year we go to the Final Four, we beat Duke.?? We lose to her in the semifinal game.?? '98, in my estimation, was the best team she ever had.?? The chemistry, she didn't just have one Candace Parker.?? She had Holsclaw, she had Jolly, she had Catchings in her rookie year, and that team was just very good.?? Probably the biggest thing I think a year later or two years later, we're playing at Knoxville, I'm up by 13 at half.
Normally I have a halftime speech when we're down by 13, if you're getting blown out, hey, get ready for the next game, which was usually LSU, and they weren't quite as good as they are right now, or they were close.?? But I didn't have the speech ready to be up by 13.?? She kicked me in the second half.?? I think we lost by 10, but I learned a lesson there; I better have that speech ready in case we were up, and we were up.
We played well, but Tennessee did sort of like what they did to Notre Dame in the second half.?? And at their place, it's hard to win.?? They have great crowds and just a tremendous following there.
Q.?? Coach, obviously you have a load of experience playing against Coach Summitt and Tennessee, but your players don't.?? What do you say to them to overcome maybe the intimidation factor or just to get them motivated to get them geared up for it???
COACH BLAIR:?? This is one thing about these kids right here.?? They watch ESPN Monday night games, all the television games.?? This one right next to me, a junky, she's going to be a great coach, A'Quonesia is.?? Right now our kids are not household names like they are.?? There's not much you can do about that.?? I'm sure Candace probably didn't know all the names of Davidson when they were playing 'em, but the difference between Davidson and us, we're not David and Tennessee is Goliath.?? We're a No. 2 seed that has earned our way up there, and right now all the 1's and the 2's have advanced.
Maybe that's good for women's basketball, maybe that's bad, but we're not the Cinderella team we were in '98, when we were just happy to be here.?? We're getting a chance to play against?????? she's the legend, she's the best.?? When you start looking at her and Geno and Leon Barmore and Tara VanDerveer and Vivian and Theresa Grentz, there has been a lot of great ones out there, but our kids do not get caught up in that.
That's what is good about this team; most of them cannot pronounce Nicky's last name.?? They know who she is, they know that she's very good.?? Bobbitt, the kid winked at me when we were going off the court, because she's from Trintity Valley; that's right down the road.?? That was one of the first junior college kids that Pat has ever signed, and they made a recruit in her finding somebody that can direct an offense and still score for her as well.
I'm familiar with all their kids.?? Most of them didn't answer my recruiting letters or my phone calls, but I'm familiar with them.?? But our kids play for what's on our jersey at Texas A&M.?? They don't play for the headlines or who they can be.?? In years to come, hopefully, they'll remember our names, but right now we're having the time of our life right now.?? We're playing and having fun, and that's just so important right now.?? Can you have fun when you're still winning and losing??? And that's what we're doing.
Q.?? I wonder if you would talk about the team's effort and just how big that's been in terms of what you've been able to accomplish this season.??
COACH BLAIR:?? Dan, you've seen my ball clubs over the years, and it's?????? this team is a lot more physical than my Arkansas teams, a lot more physical, but what we're not is what I've seen in the paper a couple times, "bully"!?? I mean, why do you get that term??? We're not a bully out there how we play defense.?? I've never heard Vivian's team be called bullies, okay??? I've seen that in a couple of newspaper columns, and that's called "defense"!?? It's called great dense!?? When Parker slaps one of our shots down, that's not her intimidating, that's just good defense.
And that's how we have to play, because we do have some limitations out there.?? We try to hide our weaknesses, we try to use our weaknesses to become strengths.?? La Toya Micheaux sets better screens than anybody in the college game, I believe, and she's very proud of that, because she might not be as efficient on the offensive end as some of those kids that are still left playing in the tournament, but she's getting the job done.?? Little A'Quonesia?????? you could have given me Bobbitt and you could have given Tennessee A'Quonesia, and Pat would have been just as happy with A'Quonesia, and I probably would have been just as happy with Shannon, but it's working for both of us.
A girl like Morenike should have been recruited by the top 10 teams in the country.?? She might not have been on the right AAU teams to get noticed.?? Danielle Gant, she's the hardest working kid I've ever had, and that goes all the way back to Louisiana Tech when I was the assistant coach.?? That is the hardest working kid, and she has to find ways to score because of her size.?? She's 5 10, and she just keeps coming at ya and coming at ya, and most kids will not play that hard.?? A guy asked a while ago on our defensive style, why doesn't everybody else play our defensive style??? Because they won't commit to it.
They want to get back on offense as quick as they can.?? Our style means we want to keep you on offense for 25 to 28 seconds.?? We want to take you deep into the count to wear you out a little bit, and most kids don't want to do that.?? Remember what Rick Pitino went to the Celtics, and he says, boys, we're going to press, we're going to get all over the court.?? Those pros weren't going to commit to that, and he's back in the college game where they will commit to that.
We play a little bit sort of like what Billy Gillespie did at A&M when he was coaching there with his defensive style.?? I think defense wins when you do not have the Candace Parker's, the Courtney Paris's, you can win by putting four to five people in double figures, and in case some kid is having a bad night, somebody else will step up.
THE MODERATOR:?? Coach, thank you for your comments.??
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