University of Houston Athletics
Women's Basketball Media Day Quotes
10/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 28, 2010
Quotes from University of Houston Women's Basketball Press Conference
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010 * Houston, Texas * Athletics/Alumni Center
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Todd Buchanan
On the first two weeks of practice
"The first couple of weeks have been, first and foremost, not necessarily (as big of a) challenge on the floor as it has been on the mindset. We have an incredible basketball team athletically, senior laden with tremendous experience. Going back to the mindset, just trying to get used to one another as far as the length of time of practice, drills, that the shot clock is a true 30 seconds in the women's game and just that carryover. Reiterating that at times during practice has probably been one of the biggest things for us to get accustomed to. (Getting used to) our style, and my style, has been the biggest difference and thing that they are trying to adjust to. Obviously, we're trying to adjust together and become the best team that we can be. We want to be an NCAA Championship caliber basketball team."
On a veteran team adjusting to him and vice versa
"I came into this from the very beginning with very strong convictions on how this game is supposed to be played. With that being said, I also understood after doing this for 20-plus years that I was going to have the incredible advantage of having Coach Wade Scott already having been there, done that with these kids. He already coached several games with them last year, due to obvious circumstances, and also with Coach (Tari) Cummings. With that camaraderie that was already built and me coming in, our friendship as a staff already being in place, I knew that I would give much more leeway to them as a staff. So I knew that my adjustment would be somewhat bigger than the players'."
On making changes to the program's mindset
"It's consistency in everything that we do. When we say something, we mean it and we follow through with it. This isn't an on-the-court thing, it's an off-the-court-thing, but with the help of staff, incredible friends of the program and obviously our senior women's administrator DeJuena Chizer, we've done an incredible upgrade to our locker room. That was the first step. It's one of those clichés, but to play well, you need to look good and feel good about yourself. I want these kids to get what they deserve, and that was one of the first steps. I said in this room at the press conference (for his hiring), that we were going to be first class in everything that we do, and that's what I meant. That goes back to changing the culture to giving them the difference from a locker room standpoint, to giving them everything that we can give them to be successful.
From a basketball standpoint, it's obvious that I want to play very up-tempo. Let there be no mistake here, I have inherited a great group of kids. I think Brittany Mason said it best the other day when we were at another function. The talents and the chemistry, for the most part, are here. Now I feel like our job as a staff is to combine everything and use everybody's talents to get the most out of them that we can. They've embraced the up-tempo style and the aggressiveness on the defensive side. I think they've enjoyed the freedom that's been given to them. I'm not going to be the type of coach, and our staff will not be the type of coaches, nor do we have a team that needs someone to jump up and down, go crazy and try to control them in a half court game. That's not what we signed up for. That's not what we're here for. I want to give them the freedom to get up and down, play up-tempo and really create an atmosphere to make people try to stop us in transition first. In the first 14 or 15 practices, I think we've created that."
On the biggest challenges to overcome before the season opener on Nov. 14
"Get healthy. We talked as a staff this morning and we're actually taking today off just due to numbers. We're down to eight or nine kids. Shoulders, knees and such need rest and that's the first thing we've got to do. The other big thing is making sure that we're truly in basketball shape. Nobody has the magic wand for that. The thing you have to do to get into true basketball conditioning is to play. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to create the atmosphere and the consistency in practice through drills to get there and really have them feel what 30 seconds truly feels like, or two minutes or whatever we throw at them. All of that's predicating on offensive and defensive drills.
For me, those are the two biggest things. Everything else is still early. Our defensive principals that we've established are pretty solid. That's one of the luxuries of having such a veteran group; they help the younger kids. Offensively, and I give Coach Scott a ton of credit for this, we've talked and we've tweaked what's been done in the past and the things that he's come up with, and we've made it our own. We're really excited about what we're doing out of our break and getting into our offensive continuity stuff. It's really going to surprise some people."
On which players will benefit most from his up-tempo style of play
"I say this with all due respect and don't mean it with any arrogance, but I think our whole basketball team has. What's previously been recruited, whether it was Coach Cummings or Coach Scott, I don't even look at it that way. We've got a basketball team here, no matter who recruited them. This is our team. I think from top to bottom, everyone has benefited from it. We're always going to try to motivate and keep everyone on their toes, but we're going to try to do it in a positive way. That's been appreciated by them, but that's going to be the style of our coaching staff."
On his initial thoughts regarding his starting rotation of core players
"We've had early conversations about it as a staff. Right now, I would feel really confident about seven, maybe eight depending on (redshirt freshman) Zalika Dyson and her knee. We're going to really have to be smart with her. She brings a lot of the intangibles to the game that you cannot coach. She's 6-4, she's long, she's athletic, she can be a great shot blocker. She can make a lot of contributions if she just rebounds, defends and blocks a few shots here or there. She can really contribute a whole lot to our basketball team in very few minutes and very few possessions."
SENIOR FORWARD Brittany Mason
On biggest changes in practice style with new head coach Todd Buchanan
"We're used to going an hour and a half and now we have three hour practices. They are intense the whole time, running and gunning and getting after it for three hours straight. That's pretty hard."
On being in even better shape this season due to the new practice style
"For our style of play, we'll be in better shape. We also have Coach Kelly (Spriggs) who loves to work us out. So we'll be good and we'll be in good shape, too."
SENIOR FORWARD Courtney Taylor
On any pressure felt after being named Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year
"I don't think it's pressure, I think it's another reason for me to play hard."
On playing a tough non-conference schedule
"It will be good for us. It'll show us how to compete against bigger teams and it also gives us a chance to beat those bigger teams."
On getting used to a new coach
"It's different, but not too hard. We just have to get used to each other. We have to learn him and he has to learn us, too. I think it's just a learning experience right now."
SENIOR FORWARD Lesslee Mason
On adjusting to longer practices
"It's definitely been an adjustment. Right now, we're not used to it so we get pretty tired. Each day we get better though, so we're getting used to it."
On learning a new coach being more difficult or more fun
"It's a little of both. It's kind of hard because every coach has pet peeves and stuff that they don't like. It's just basically learning and getting used to having a new coach."
SENIOR GUARD Brittney Scott
On adjusting to a new style of coaching
"Personally, Coach Buchanan has brought to the table what I've been expecting of a college program. When the changes were made, and he's still making, I've taken them on really well. It feels normal to me, it hasn't been challenging for me to take on this role."
On her style of play matching up well with Coach Buchanan's up-tempo ideals
"A couple of plays that he and Coach Scott have put together are very up-tempo with pretty much no rules, just open play. That's what we need as a team. We can do it, but we're not really a half court type of team. We're more of a team that's going to be on the go."
On the team's attitude heading into the season
"Everyone's attitude is pretty much the same. We have six seniors on the team and we haven't won a conference title. So mentally, I think everybody is already prepared for what's coming up."
JUNIOR GUARD Roxana Button
On facing several nationally-ranked teams on this year's schedule
"It'll be really good for us. It will be a great measure to see where we're at and it will be great at getting us ready for conference."
On the team's mindset after the first two weeks of practice
"We will be (more excited) once we start playing games. The first two weeks of practice are always rough, because we're just practicing everyday against ourselves. So it's always more fun to play against other people."
