University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn vs. Hofstra; Quotes
11/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2009
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Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On 700th win
"I don't know. I think it's more of a - I was just telling the players, it's easy to remember nights like tonight. You say, yeah, we beat Hofstra and it was Coach's 700th win. But for me, it was - I told them I think I can remember every single game I've ever coached. If you were to say to me, 'You played New Hampshire at this date, at this place, what do you remember?' and I could probably tell you something that one of my players did that still stays with me all these years. And I have a memory like that of every single game. So you know, games like this, I think they're more for the people involved in it - like these guys, you know, are a big part of it. They're the ones that make these things happen. But I wanted them to understand that that should be their goal when they play basketball, is to create something that they'll remember when they're older and someone says 'Hey, you remember, we played Richmond in that tournament and this happened and that happened.' And that's kind of how I approach all these things, you know. I'm not a put-it-in-perspective kind of guy. That's not what I do."
On converting turnovers to points
"I thought the first half it was very difficult for both teams. I thought we turned it over a lot. I thought Hofstra turned it over a lot and it was very difficult to generate any kind of flow in that first half. And I think the second half, we had a little more of a rhythm to our offense, you know, and we were able to go defense to offense and turn some turnovers into points and shots came a little bit easier out of the flow of the offense. But, you know, they played very hard and they're adamant about what they're going to do and they do it pretty well. And you can't just go out there and think you're going to disrupt them as much as you can maybe some other teams. So it took a little bit longer than it would, maybe, with some other teams that we played this year. That's why I always like when my players are in school. You know, there's no school this week. They're sitting around doing nothing all week. You saw the effects of that in the first 20 minutes and hopefully, we'll be better tomorrow."
On the meaning of the 700th win
"Well, that's what I mean. I try not to spend a lot of time thinking about that sort of thing and I guess that's kind of what keeps me going in the direction that I always want to go is I'm not thinking about the next milestone. I'm not worried about where it's coming from or when it's going to come or what year. I don't concern myself with that kind of stuff. So when it does happen, I don't really know where to put it. If you ask me - we won our first game we ever played. That was really cool. And I told Jamelle (Elliott) that. They won their first game and I told her, I said 'You remember that the rest of your life.' You know, it's pretty cool to win the very first game you ever coach as a head coach. She said 'Yeah, I just want to avoid long losing streak.' And I said 'Well, you know, we won our first seven.' I said 'I remember that. I'll always remember that. We went 7-and-0 my first year.' And she says, 'Then what?' I said 'We lost 10 straight. So I don't want you to start jumping up and down just 'cause you won your first one 'cause there's a lot of heartache that's gonna come after that.'
"So, you remember those kinds of things because they're happening to you for the very first time. When you get to this point, you know, you're in the locker room trying to figure out how we turned it over 14 times or how can we get better at attacking zone offenses - or defenses. It's - I don't know. I probably should think about that kind of stuff, but I don't. Matter of fact, just the other day I was standing in Gampel - these guys were doing some shooting - and I was looking up and I was doing some counting. I said 'I heard somewhere where somebody said on TV that we had made the Sweet Sixteen something like 16 times or something like that.' I said 'That can't be right.' So I looked up there and I counted them and I thought 'Damn. They were right. We did.' So that kind of stuff you don't carry around with you, you just don't - I don't know. Maybe other people do. I don't. I really don't. I can't tell you, I wish I could, but I don't."
Junior Maya Moore
Whose idea was it to do something for coach after the game and how did it all come together?
"It was a long process. Coach Dailey made sure we had the t-shirts and we knew we wanted to incorporate them somehow. Some of us were in Coach Shea Ralph's office and we came up with the 'priceless' idea from the MasterCard commercial. Kelly Faris came up with that idea, but it was a combination of that as well as bouncing around some different ideas. Heather Buck was the MVP of the arts and crafts portion of the project. It was something fun we wanted to do for coach but I don't think what we did in any way can reward him for what he has done for this program."
You guys came out with a slow start in the first half, what did you think coming out into the second half?
"It's really important to come out and physically be the aggressor, I think its key. I questioned it because it took us longer to focus in the beginning of the game and it showed in our performance through the number of fouls we had and the drives we let happen. But this is basketball, you have the highs and the lows, we just have to keep going."
Senior Kaili McLaren
What was your idea of the gift for coach?
"Kelly came up with most of the ideas so we just went with it and figured coach would appreciate this small gesture."
You were around for win number 600, are you surprised that you were around for number 700?
"Surprised? Not at all. Coach always makes sure we are where we need to be performance wise. It is very cool to be here for this milestone and for another chance to make a national championship run.
Head Coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey
Why do you schedule a game like this against UConn?
I want to play the best of the best. The last couple of years we have not been in that position but my first year here we had a chance to play Baylor, Michigan State, South Carolina, and Arizona State. The second year we were rebuilding and last year even though we won sixteen games we were not at the level I wanted to be at. Now that we have the right players in place we need to start putting everything together. If a couple of things had gone better in the beginning of the game the momentum may have swung more in our favor.
What do your players learn from playing in a game against UConn?
Our players say they want to play as hard as UConn and I say that is a great verbal statement but now we need to execute it better on the court. Our player are not at the same level as UConn but now that we have some talent, playing a team like UConn can help us grow into a Women's Basketball team that Hofstra can be proud of.
