University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn vs. Lehigh Post Game Quotes (November 27, 2010)
11/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2010
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UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma
On the performance of Maya Moore tonight:
"You know, I watched the football game and I was really kind of mesmerized by it. I know it takes a lot of guys to win a football game - it takes a lot of people to win a basketball game. I don't think the strategy is very difficult. Whether you're in Maui, whether you're in Storrs or whether you're in East Hartford, the strategy is all the same, it's just a matter of who calls timeout. So if Coach Calhoun calls timeout, he says `Here's what we're going to do. We're going to give Kemba (Walker) the ball and let's go.' Then I call timeout and say `Look, we're going to get Maya the ball as many times as we can and see where that takes us.' Randy (Edsall) calls timeout and says `Give the ball to Jordan (Todman) and see what happens.' So you know what? Coaching is really easy provided you've got the kind of player no one else has and as long as we've got that, I think we've got a chance to win every single game we play. I don't want it to be all Maya all the time, but I don't think there is anything we can do. I want Maya to be aggressive and be assertive and she knows what I'm looking for. Maya's Maya. If this is going to be the typical night for her I'm ok with that. I just want other people to also feel like they contributed a lot. They will. As they get a little older and a little more experienced, they will contribute more."
On Tiffany Hayes making some shots tonight:
"You know eventually they have to go in. Again, that's all part of what we have to keep working on and keep getting better at. Staying aggressive. Tiffany can't just stand there and jack up 30 footers. She has to get in the lane, pull up jump shots, get to the free throw line. She did a great job rebounding the ball tonight. Tiffany's had to take on a lot more. Tomorrow night we'll see for sure if it plays out. As I said the other day, we lost a lot of points and a lot of rebounds to graduation last year. Somebody is going to have to do more than they did last year to fill in that gap. Actually, a lot of people have to do more."
On the decision to start Samarie Walker instead of Stefanie Dolson:
"I just thought that Samarie has been working at a really high level in practice. I thought defensively she would be a little bit better to help us, because most of their big guys like to play on the perimeter and Samarie is better defensively to do that."
On the smaller lineup that he used tonight:
"I like our small lineup. We use it a lot in practice. I like it to a point. It takes a lot of stamina to play with those smaller guys because they have to move so much to create the offense which comes easily in throwing it into the post. There's a lot of movement. You know we are going to pick up full court more when we have a smaller lineup and today we did some of that. I like our small lineup. It's going to help us in a number of games this year. I think we have to be ready for anything."
UConn Players
Maya Moore
On the offensive game plan:
"I always try to look to post. That's always a goal of mine, especially in transition. If I'm the first post down, I won't to continue to work on getting to the block and scoring in more ways than just catch and shoot or at the three. I was a little frustrated at myself for not taking advantage when I had the ball inside more. That's something I'll continue to work on. I thought Samarie (Walker) and Stef (Dolson) did really well together working the high-low and that's something we talked about so I'm glad that worked."
On being the center with four guards:
"I think I have a little bit of a warrior mindset when I'm the lone big out there. I think I say to myself, `I'm the center I gotta hold it down for my team in the middle' but it's something I have to be prepared to do. When coach puts us out there in a small lineup we'll have a mismatch at one end but at the other we should have a mismatch offensively."
On starting strong in the first half:
"I don't really like to pay attention to what the score is or as far as how hard I go in my aggressiveness. I always want to stay on the attack. I know when I do that, it sets the tone for everyone else. I love playing that way and my teammates find me. It's just constantly staying aggressive so that Samarie (Walker) can make that great pass and find me."
On the effectiveness of a small lineup against a team with a big front court:
"It depends. I know we are going to bring a lot of energy and compete. But if there's a certain mismatch that is constantly being exploited that we can't fix, it's going to hurt us. If they have a dominant big man at the other end and they have great shooters it will be hard if we can't double. That's why you have to have a complete team. Why you have to have good posts and good centers that are going to come in and do their job. But I feel like we are also in a position where if that was to happen, and coach thought that was the best lineup to have, we would find a way to win. If they are taking advantage of us on one end, we'd have to come down and take advantage of them on the other end."
On hitting her first three-pointer of the game:
"Oh man, I definitely needed that one to drop. I was talking to Laurin (Dixon) and I was telling her how I just needed one to drop in and I'd be good. Once that one fell in, my confidence just shot up and I knew all the rest of them would drop. I missed one, but other than that the rest of my shots were falling. I just needed one to get my confidence up."
On struggling from the field as of late:
"My shot has been off lately. I've been working on it with (Assistant Coach) Shea (Ralph) and I just have to find other ways to be a scorer, be a passer, be a screener to help my team out. Today I was rebounding and playing defense and I just have to work around not making shots."
Samarie Walker
On progressing this season:
"I feel like I am. My teammates are always on me, especially about communicating and my energy level so that's the first thing I try to do. There's always rebounding. I think I'm starting to get everything and it's all starting to click."
On nervousness felt from starting her first game:
"At first, but then I told myself there's no reason to be nervous. I always started in high school. Of course it's a different level but it's the same concept. It's different actually getting a start than having to come off the bench and making the same plays."
Lehigh Head Coach Sue Troyan:
On positives to take from experience in Storrs:
"We came in to this tournament with the idea that playing such high level teams will only make us better. I think these games will help us prepare for the NCAA Tournament, if we get that far. We think we have a good chance of winning our conference and in past NCAA games, we faced top competition like the teams here and we were a bit starry-eyed. We wanted to come here and play top teams, like the one's we'd end up facing in the postseason. We thought that we'd learn more from maybe a tough loss to a top-level opponent, rather than winning a game against whoever we would have brought in to our place."
On the upcoming LSU vs. UConn game tomorrow afternoon:
"I mean, UConn is really good. They don't have many weaknesses. I thought LSU was very good too. They are certainly a strong team, but UConn is really good. They defend like we haven't seen before, they score and you know, they have Maya Moore. I expect Connecticut to get the result tomorrow."
