March 18, 2012
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Maryland and Louisville visited with the media Sunday in Comcast Center. The second-seeded Terps will take on the No. 7-seeded Cardinals at 7 p.m. Monday.
Maryland Quotes
Opening Statement:
"We're obviously extremely excited to be advancing to the next round and are looking forward to playing a very good Louisville team. They're a team that's led by their talented guard Shoni Schimmel. Obviously, we know coach [Jeff] Walz extremely well, because he was on this staff. I think from both of our ends we know each other's philosophies and we even have some of the same play calls, so that makes it fun. They're going to have to junk it up. There will be a lot of different combinations of defenses and presses, like box and one, triangle and two and whatever else coach Walz can bring out. We feel like we've prepared for this all season long. Teams we've faced have prepared us for this moment, so we're excited."
On motivating factors heading into Louisville game:
"Our team is motivated to win every time we step on the floor. So there's those factors that have motivated us all year. But to me this is Maryland vs. Louisville and this is the next opponent that's in our way for us to advance to the next round and that's how we're approaching it."
On whether the team wanted to play Louisville more than Michigan State:
"Obviously our seniors remember it...When you have situations of something that's happened to you in the past, whether it be the Louisville game their freshman year or our ending last year, we're a prideful team. You would expect that our players are competitive and want to win. Having said that, so is Louisville and both teams are going to be motivated and driven. It's going to be an exciting match up."
On her relationship with Coach Waltz:
"We're really happy for his success. Any time you have assistant coaches that go on and are successful it speaks volumes. Just like my relationship being mentored by Bill Fenlay at Iowa State. When you leave a program you get into your own program. You touch bases every once and a while. I barely have time to talk to my extended family back in Iowa, let alone your coaching peers and people that you've mentored in the past. That doesn't mean that you don't keep tabs on one another and what they're doing."
On President Obama picking Louisville over Maryland in his bracket:
"I was actually thrilled because during the season we have had different people tell me that picks are against us, and we've won those games. So I was actually pretty excited when I heard it. We've had to prove ourselves all season, so this isn't any different."
On lingering irritation after loss to Louisville in the 2009 Elite Eight:
"I don't remember that comment, so obviously it didn't have any impact. Anjale put it perfectly, these are two totally different teams and scenarios [from 2009], so we're not focused on the past but rather on the present. I have enough on my plate at home and at work to be worried about some comments that took place in 2009."
On the rivalry with Louisville:
"It's all about Maryland; we're focused on ourselves and trying to get to the next round. I know about the past with Louisville, but we want the win for ourselves more than anything."
On last year's loss to Georgetown in the NCAA second round:
"We didn't protect our house. This year there's a different focus."
On getting too excited for the game:
"I was watching March Madness and getting really excited for our game. That's one of the reasons I couldn't sleep. Last night I got some great sleep. I got about nine hours, I know tomorrow not to watch basketball before I go to sleep. I'm just going to shut it down early."
On what is at stake facing Louisville in the tournament again:
"That's in the back of my mind right now. This is a new team; the teams are new at both ends. Like coach said, this is about Maryland and Louisville. We're just happy to be playing in the next round, and we just want to get the win for ourselves, and our school."
On knocking the rust off:
"It showed in the game, we were missing a lot of easy shots. In the second half I think we were making the easy shots that we were taking."
Louisville Quotes
Opening statement:
"First, I would like to thank everyone for coming out today again. We're excited to survive one more day. We're looking forward to getting the opportunity to practice today to go over some things to prepare for our game tomorrow against a very talented Maryland team. From looking at film and other things, it is obvious we are going to have our hands full. They are very talented and are good at all five spots. Their players who come off the bench are extremely good. It's a game that we're going to have to play as well as we have all year to even have a chance in it. We'll come out and prepare today and hopefully get some things done and then we'll come out tomorrow and give it our best shot."
On beating Maryland in the Elite Eight's effect on the game tomorrow:
"This is the game to get to the Sweet 16 and our last game [against Maryland] was a game to get to the Final Four. Sure, you're trying to advance to the next round, but if you can make it to the Final Four, that's what you're trying to do. Our goal is to hopefully be able to move on, but I have one player here, Becky [Burke] who played in that game and Monique Reid would be a senior, but she's out, so we're just excited to be playing. It's nothing more than that. It was great to have some fans who stayed for yesterday's game and cheered for us and friends who I stay in touch with through email and a few through phone. Besides that, it's just another basketball game and I keep telling our players that I haven't made a shot all year, so it's not like I'm going to go out there and score 30 [points] tomorrow."
On the team's confidence level:
"For the past month and a half the ten that we have that are able to play have really bonded together as a team. Monique (Reid) and Tia (Gibbs) have well but they aren't able to play. It has been fun to watch them grow as teammates both on the floor and off the floor. You have to have trust in each other and enjoy spending time with each other. I tell them that they don't have to like each other but it would be nice if they trust each other. I think our team has taken the next step and enjoyed being around each other. When you get to that you can start to see the chemistry. They are out there playing for each other. I constantly get on them for taking a bad shot or not boxing out but they shouldn't be worried about me. They should be worried about the girls on their left and right. Their teammates are the ones they are out there playing for.
"My job is to put them in the right spots to have success. But I haven't made a shot all year. I think coaches get too much credit for a win and we should take the blame for a loss. It's our job to put them in the right spots. It's up to these young ladies to go out and do what they can do. That's what is so exciting. It is a group that as come together, is fun to coach, and is coachable. It is really exciting to be able to draw up plays in timeouts that we haven't run all year and see them go out and execute them. We might not score every time, but we go out and execute. We couldn't do that two months ago. If we hadn't done something in practice and tried to do it in a game we would run into each other. Now they have it down and we have scored on a lot because of the way they execute."
On the advantage of knowing Maryland coach Brenda Frese:
"I haven't talked to [Brenda Frese] in probably four years. We both have our own thing going on, so there is really no contact there at all. You see enough game film now these days, they probably have every game we have played in since you can see them on TV and everyone trades game film, so there really are no play calls that make a difference. I joke with our kids that I'll yell eight play calls at a time because I enjoy watching the other coach scribble things down on a piece of paper. It's fun for me. So no, we don't worry about any of that stuff. If you come out and execute it, it really doesn't matter what the other team is going to run. We knew what Michigan State was going to run their first out-of-bounds play and they still scored on us. It's a matter of executing and that's what it's going to come down to tomorrow."
On comparing Alyssa Thomas to Angel McCoughtry:
"They are both great players. Angel [McCoughtry] was a three time All-American. It's like trying to compare Alyssa Thomas and Maya Moore right now. They are both great players. But one of them is about to play on the Olympic team here shortly (Angel McCoughtry). I don't think it is fair to Alyssa Thomas to compare her to someone like Angel McCoughtry right now. I never wanted to compare Angel to Maya when she was coming up. It is a tough comparison. Is she (Thomas) a terrific player? Without a doubt she is a big time player. The kid can score.
"Athletically, Angel didn't handle the ball as well but overall was probably a little bit more athletic. Angel could do some things I have never seen kids do. But at the same time Alyssa is a better shooter right now at this time in her career. I wouldn't call Angel a great shooter; the kid was a scorer. She threw up some awful shots that I didn't know who they went in but they did. She would will a lot of them in. Angel was very important to our team and she is very important to their team. If you go back to the Virginia Tech game at home, she didn't play and I don't think anyone thought they would get beat at home by Virginia Tech. She brings security to them in her explosiveness, ability to defend, and everything she can do."
On dealing with Maryland's height:
"That is a great question. I would take some pointers if anyone has any. It is going to be a challenge for us. They are long and big. It is going to be a challenge. We are going to have to sit and spread it out, throw it into the post at times, shoot threes and do everything we can. It's going to be a challenge for us."
On throwing different defenses at Maryland:
"We aren't stubborn enough as coaches to think we are going to play just one way and beat people with our will power. We have been fortunate enough in the past to beat some teams who think they are going to just play one way. We have taken advantage of that. We will play some man and if they are scoring on that, I'm not dumb enough to sit there and stay in man. We will try zone, and if that's not working we will put six men on the floor like that team that played Western Kentucky a few months back. You have to do what you have to do. If we have to go triangle and two, box and one, five and two, whatever we need to do that's what we are going to do. Call it junk or whatever, I don't care I'm trying to win.
"We are far enough along that we can throw some stuff in. We will try some box and one, triangle and two, trap off ball screens, hedge on ball screens, and jam them. We will play a multitude of things to try and keep them off balance. That last thing you want to let someone do is get confortable in what you are doing. We will switch up and go zone at times and then back to man. It is my job as a coach to not let the opponent get comfortable in an offense."
On President Obama picking Louisville over Maryland:
"He is trying to win Kentucky [in the election]. I think he picked Kentucky men and our men as well. He wants our state for sure. It is a reelection year. If I was him I wouldn't have picked anyone. Everyone is a favorite."
Senior Guard Becky Burke
On the team's confidence:
"We are an extremely close team. I think our friendship off the court has helped us on the court. Going out and executing a game plan and seeing the success we have in it gives us extreme confidence going into the next game. I think we are sharing the ball really well. No one is worried if they get theirs as long as we are winning. It is a very good feeling at this point."
On beating Maryland in the Elite Eight's effect on the game tomorrow:
"Right now it is survive and advance. It doesn't matter if it's a game to go to the third round or to the Final Four because you have to win to move on and we all know that. We prepare the same for pretty much every team. We need to be mentally in it tomorrow. I think we're going to go out and go through our normal routine because there isn't anything really special about today and just prepare like we always do.
Freshman Guard Bria Smith
On playing Maryland on its home floor:
"I think we're just going to go out there and play our hardest. You don't really hear the crowd as much when you're playing because you're just focusing on winning, so we're just going to go out and play hard to try and get the win."
Sophomore Guard Shoni Schimmel
On how playing on Xavier's home floor last year compares to playing on Maryland's home floor:
"It's always great being the underdog because you have something to go out there and prove. Right now being a seven-seed and going up against a two-seed at their home court is good for us because we have something to go out there and prove. We did it last year against Xavier, so it will be fun to see how this one will end up."
