Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Pat Summitt On The DePaul Game And Facing Middle Tennessee

Lady Vol Coach Pat Summitt teleconference

Opening statement:
'I think our DePaul game was a good challenge for us and we responded very well. Overall, I am pleased with the exception of not closing out the first half. I thought we brought a lot of energy. We probably had better spacing in that game than we had prior to that. That was good because I really felt like DePaul was coming in playing very, very well; I was pleased there. Last night was a different kind of challenge for us. George Washington, certainly, brought a lot of energy and played us tough. The physicality in that game was a challenge at times. I thought it really affected the inside game defensively, took us out of what we wanted to do. We didn't do a good job of running to the rim. We got pushed off the block. I thought our post people were over anxious, but at the same we found a way to win. I thought our defense really had to have it. We did some good things, particularly the margin we had on the boards. Not that we were missing shots, but getting 25 offensive rebounds was a big help for us. We have a long way to go to get where we need to be as a team. Some of our freshmen didn't seem to be ready for the intensity and the pace of that game, so we definitely shortened our bench. Now we're on break for exams; we're off today, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we'll probably practice three of those four days. I'll probably give them another day off to prepare for exams. It's a good time for them to re-focus, not only for basketball, but for exams coming up and what they have to do to heading into exam week.'


'Middle Tennessee beat LSU so that speaks to what they are capable of doing as a team. We have to be ready. It's like when we played at UT-Chattanooga and you playing teams in your state, it's always a hard-fought, intense game. Preparation will be key. In particular, you know you're trying to play as we've been trying to play a number of players, I'm not sure that our bench is going to be as deep as I've anticipated, so we have to get ready for a tough Middle Tennessee team. Going on the road at Texas and at Old Dominion, having those games, will be a tremendous test for us. Probably, without question, in terms of road games, that should be the two toughest to date. I think we have a lot of work to do between now and then.'


On the team's shooting:
'Watching the tape, and watching the game tape and the breakdown tape and just focused on our inside game, that's probably my biggest disappointment. The lack of composure against the size and it was physical game in the paint. I really felt like Vicki and Glory both, as well as Kelley, just really rushed. A lot had to do, I'm sure, with the physicality of the post game and what they were doing a lot of times. They dribbled two, three, four times to try and make something happen as opposed to catch and read. We talked about it on the plane and I'm sure Dean will be right on top of that. We ran to the block, we didn't run to the rim, we were so inconsistent in establishing the paint points that we typically have been much better at. Again, we talked about it as a staff, we've got to be more mindful. When that happens, our eyes have got to be on it, see it and correct it right away. I thought that was costly for us. And I think that's why our posts shot so poorly because they were having to dribble too much to create scoring opportunities and we got in to rushing and forcing. That obviously hurt us. I was a little disappointed with our perimeter game. Angie was two for six, but hit a great three for us. Cait didn't score'we need a little bit more scoring out of our point guard, particularly if they're going to be left open, and she got some good looks. We just didn't shoot the ball well. Does that happen on the road' Yes. More so than at home, but at the same time, I thought we had a lot to do with it. They played tough defense on us and we were impatient offensively and didn't screen, didn't assist, didn't work well together.

On being over-anxious:
'First and foremost, they didn't run to the rim. They got pushed off the block early. That's where I take responsibility for that. I just did not feel in watching the game we ever really got the kind of post-up opportunities and I think that we settled for just going on the block and trying to score from there as opposed to just beating people down the floor. That's where Glory and Vicki have been so good and we have to re-visit that every day in practice as we want to run rim to rim. We didn't do that consistently.'

Free throw and outside shooting has improved, is this reason to believe this is a way this team will evolve:
'I think it's obviously going to take time and its going to take on the part of the people that I got frustrated last night with'lack of help that I felt like we got from Brewer, Manning'I didn't give Manning a chance, so I told her last night 'I got really focused after Brewer and Gray' and decided early on to shorten the bench. I don't regret that because I thought we had to have some people that had been producing and that's why I wanted to go with Baugh, Johnson and Cain. Stricklen, once she got re-focused, I thought she stepped up and was key for us. If you look at point guard play, we didn't get a lot of scoring there. That kind of put even more pressure on our post game.

On point guard play:
'I think looking to be more aggressive and looking for their shots. Like I said Cait didn't shoot well and Briana only took two shots. I didn't mind the fact that we went inside, but I do think we have to establish some balance on the perimeter. We've got to have inside-outside. There are a lot of people, just like last night, they're just going after our post game.

On post play:
'They were sagging off and felt like our perimeter game could've really helped us just by knocking down a couple shots. That's where Angie's got to get in a better rhythm and probably should've played Syd more just looking at the tape. She's really starting to play with confidence and not forcing things and knocking down some shots for us. We're still learning as we go and sometimes it's wait and see, and its wait and see during the game who is going to be driven. I thought at the end Angie stepped up and made big three for us and Stricklen came back in and definitely had an impact. It's there it's just a lack of consistency.'

If last night was good preparation for future road games:
'Certainly it was a good challenge for us and we know we have those road games that are going to be a huge test for our basketball team. Being in that environment was probably a good thing for us in terms of preparation and hopefully it did things for the players that didn't come ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work right away. Hopefully it will have a positive impact when we get ready to play again on the road.'

On finding a way to win:
'In both of those (road) games we found a way to close it out. The little bit of difference in last night's game is being able to answer everything they came at us with. In the end, being able to close out the game we did. At Chattanooga, we're down and fighting to get back. Last night we're fighting to hold on to the lead. I think both were valuable learning experiences for our basketball team and that's good. At the same time, because of the lack of performance in certain areas, I think, we won, but it still gives us an opportunity to teach because they know we did not play the way we wanted to play. Granted, George Washington had something to do with it. They were physical, aggressive and tough-minded. They played inside and outside. It was a good challenge for us, but also good preparation for the future.'

On zone play:
'I thought there was an important change'I was a little hesitant to go to it. I felt like they were in such a rhythm going against our man, trying to break us down off the dribble. I thought we did a really nice job in particular defending Booker. I thought we extended pretty well.'

On the team's communication:
'I think there was a sense of urgency in our zone, when we went to it, and that hasn't always been the case. Because we play so much man-to-man, there are times we've been in zone and it seems like a resting defense. It wasn't last night, I thought it was a very active defense for us last night. It did make a difference and it was a good change at that time.'

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