University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn vs. Villanova Post Game Quotes (Jan. 5, 2011)
1/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2011
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UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma
Were you pleased with the response of the team coming off the loss?
"Yeah, I said to them today that I thought they did a lot of good things. You can sit there and say well you know the competition was this or the competition was that, but I think you can tell by some of the ball movements and how many people we got involved that it was good. I think it took us a couple of minutes to get our feet wet, but overall I thought it was really good. Say what you will, Villanova's shooting percentage was really, really bad, but their ability to get those shots is what you base your defense on. I thought we did a good job defensively. They're not the easiest team to chase around for 60 minutes."
Do you get a sense from the team that they were going to "get" their opponent after a loss?
"No. I thought the last couple of days it was hard for me to read them. I don't think they knew how to practice after a loss, because they have not had the opportunity to do that in a long time...it's been interesting couple of days for me to get a feel for them and how I needed to go about approaching them. I was going into tonight wait and see...I didn't know how they were going to react after a loss."
Have you been able to find some humor in everything that has happened in the last two and a half years?
"Some humor? I find lots of humor in stuff. The more you're in this, the more you see it, it's inconceivable that it could have happened. I'm just glad that it's over and we don't have to talk about it anymore. It's inconceivable when you think about it that something like that could actually happen. Especially after you see what happened the other day. After the game and even the next day, I heard a lot of `Congratulations, great job', like the season is over now. The streak is over and now you're done, without any regard to the fact that we have three months of basketball left. Yeah, I've found a lot of humor in the last two and a half years."
Does going back on the road so quickly in a hostile environment like Notre Dame hold any more importance to you because of the Stanford game?
"This is not a great stretch for us, at Notre Dame, at St. John's, home against Louisville and then at North Carolina. It's not ideal, but maybe it's exactly what we need. I don't think Notre Dame plays the same style as Stanford. We're going to be in an environment that we're used to being in, we're playing a team that we know and we've played a lot. I hope that some of the things that we do this week in practice will get us ready for Notre Dame and not necessarily think about what happened out at Stanford. I wanted them to get ready for tonight and obviously you couldn't forget about it, but here on in, going forward I don't really want it to be anything more than that."
Maya Moore
On putting on a good performance after the Stanford loss:
"We don't judge our game by the score completely, but how well we play and how well we execute. Coach was saying in the locker room that we did a lot of things that will help us and stuff we can build on. We aren't completely happy and satisfied but we are proud of the steps we made tonight. We communicated better on defense. I thought for the most part we were all on the same page. We made defensive mistakes but we made them together as a team. Generally, we were communicating and talking more. In shoot-around we were talking about how to play against their defense, they switch a lot. I thought we tried and were looking for the opportunities to slip screens and flash in the middle. People were knocking in shots and being aggressive. I'm probably most proud of our overall aggressive mindset tonight."
On sensing the opponent's vulnerability when they miss shots:
"You do sense that. You live and die by the three. They don't say that for no reason. When you are missing threes it is frustrating. We've experienced it too. When you are missing threes, there's something about it. It can mess with your confidence if you let it. We were still trying to stay on the attack and not get comfortable with the fact that they were missing. We wanted to make sure that we were making them miss and they weren't just happening to miss. I know I wasn't happy with the fact that they were getting off as many threes as they were to start the game because they are capable of hitting them. But that's what we look for. We want to see a team deflated and go on the attack. We have to be aware that when we miss threes and other shots, we can't show frustration because the other team can look to pounce."
On setting a national record with 70-straight home wins and the feeling towards streaks at this point:
"We definitely love playing at home. I don't think any of us were really aware of that streak really. But we are absolutely focused on getting better and recommitting ourselves to improving and not getting satisfied. It just happened to come out on our home court tonight."
Tiffany Hayes
On having doubts about how the team would come out after a loss:
"I really didn't have any doubts. I know our team's mentality and I know that all of us, deep down inside, had this attitude that `whoever's next is gonna get it', even though it should have been last game. We all came out with that attitude. We showed it in tonight's game I think."
On personally having that attitude after being frustrated against Stanford:
"You could say that. The attitude was there. But this is a team win. Like I said, everybody got touches and did their job. Like Maya said, we communicated more on defense like we were asking from each other in practice. We definitely did it in this game."
On having that mindset heading into Notre Dame next weekend and solving the problems from last week:
"I mean, we aren't perfect, but we have another practice coming up and we can get close to fixing the communication problems and the little things like that. But like you said, it's going to be another tough game in a tough environment so we have to come in and be ready."
Villanova Head Coach Harry Perretta
Is this a recipe for disaster to play UConn after they come off their first loss in two and a half years?
"No, I don't think that had anything to do with it. We played them when they won 55 in a row, it doesn't matter. When we start missing shots we just collapse, we fall apart. We actually got some half decent shots during the first three or four minutes of the game, but once we miss them we just deflate. There is a difference between looking bad and I thought for the first couple minutes we executed our offense pretty well and we dealt with the press okay. Once we don't get rewarded for it, like scoring the ball, the same player who was just in the right spot runs to the wrong spot now. If you watch us we just deflate and fall apart and I just can't get this group to understand that. We are still going to lose, but there is a difference between knowing what you are doing and just falling apart."
Are you frustrated that this is how the games go or are you resigned to it?
"Well I'm not resigned to it, for example two years ago when they had a really good team we played with them for a half. The problem is when you have young players I can't get them to understand that everything is predicated on making a shot. Until they figure that out you have to resolve yourself and realize that this is how it's going to be. I told them before the game that if they break down, and keep making errors the game is going to be over very quickly."
What are some differences that you see in Kelly Faris?
"She is being more aggressive and she has to be because of the players that are gone. I think all of their younger players have stepped up their game, even Maya has stepped up her game. I think that she is being more aggressive in her nature especially early in the game. She had some great shots against Stanford and she kept them in the game at one point. I think that mentally that happens when other players leave."
Do you still see them as the top team in the BIG EAST?
"I think they are, yes. Offensively they just have a big advantage. I think DePaul might be the only other team in the league that scores that much. I still think they are ahead of the other teams though and we couldn't even stop them a little bit. Maybe DePaul, Notre Dame just because they have the capability of scoring, but I just don't see that. If Maya plays like she has been playing they are for sure the top."
How did the three ball make a difference in your game in the second half?
"It made a difference only because they sat back in the zone and let us shoot it. The bottom line is that we have to shoot three's because we just don't shoot a much higher percentage from two. We can't take it off the dribble very well so we have to rely on the three. We will continue to use the three and hopefully we can shoot it better in the first half during the rest of the games."
