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University of Houston Athletics
Hughey Previews 2014-15 Season at Media Day
10/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HOUSTON - Head Coach Ronald Hughey addressed dozens of assembled media today at the 2014-15 University of Houston Basketball Media Day event.
Hughey is in his first season as Head Coach of the Cougars. He inherits a team that returns nine letterwinners from 2013-14, when the club posted a 6-25 record and a 1-17 American Athletic Conference mark.
The Cougars open the season on Sunday, November 9 against Huston-Tillotson in exhibition action. Tip time at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston is scheduled for 4 pm CT.
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COACH HUGHEY AT MEDIA DAY
Opening Statement
"I just to give you a quick overview of what the girls have been going through. I don't know if you had a chance to see some of the boot camp stuff that we did over the last few weeks, but we're just getting ourselves mentally and physically ready for the season.
On top of that, the girls have been really excited about all of the things that we have been doing, especially with the photo shoots and things like that. Any opportunity that they have to dress up and put some make-up on is very exciting for them.
We're expecting some great things this year, that's first and foremost. They are really working hard toward those things. Every day is a challenge: having the proper mindset to play at, and the proper determination to fight through. We're creating a lot of adversity in practice, and they are stepping up to the challenge every day.
I'm really proud of where we are right now, and I'm just ready to move forward."
On the team as a whole...
"The first thing we want to focus on everyday is the fundamentals. Having an opportunity to go out and dribble, shoot, and pass at a high intensity is the one thing you want to have the opportunity to do every day to get better.Second, we want to take care of the basketball. When you turn the basketball over at a high level, you are not going to win games.
The third thing we want is to be relentless on the boards. You have to rebound the basketball. You have to give yourself an opportunity for second- and third-chance points and we want to take care of those areas.
Lastly, we just want to be relentless at everything we do on the basketball court. Whether it's being aggressive, being in transition, cheering your teammate on, picking up defensively, just everything we do, we're going to be really, really aggressive at it. It is going to be quite exciting."
On accountability on and off the court...
"They are carrying their word hand-in-hand every day. You will have opportunities to speak to some of the young ladies; accountability is flowing through our entire program. One of the things they are really proud about, we sat down and had an opportunity to talk, and we talked about discipline, and having that feeling of accountability and where that can take them in life.
They have embraced it, and it's been really refreshing."
On how team has bought in to his message...
"It started out this past summer. We set up a schedule of giving out our gear. Our shoes, socks, any of our logo stuff, because the first thing we want you to understand is that you have got to be the brand every day. You can't walk around and say you are a UH this or a UH that when you are not being the best brand you can be every single day.
So we started out, when they passed a conditioning test or competed for a week, we gave them a shirt and some shorts. We showed them how they had to earn it. They have embraced that idea and we have carried it over until now. Every single day they come out, and they know that championships, winning, anything is a process and they have joined in hand-in-hand to get to that point.
They know it's all earned, and they know it's never awarded. We're not going to reward them for doing anything that they don't put their hearts, mind, and their teammates into. The three words that govern our program: trust, protect, and empower. Every day they have an opportunity to do that. We don't back down from it. It's not negotiable, any parts of it.
You are going to trust your teammate, you are going to protect your teammate, and you are going to empower your teammate. Those things help us with the earning part of it."
On team bonding...
"It is vital. That is why we started the community service in the summer. They thought we were just going out and having fun. It's that bonding process, and it's the process of putting that all in, giving more then you receive and having the opportunity to show your teammates that I'm not the same person you see on the outside, I'm much more on the inside.
That bonding process is the one thing that is going to carry us when times get hard. That is why we need to do those things every single week. Today were going to watch a video, it's some of the crazy stuff I like to do that's all about team bonding. Again, we know that each one has to reach one, the first part of our three words that govern our program is trust, and everybody is going to trust each other.
That does not happen if you're not bonding and close enough."
On the team buying in...
"They have bought in so far. One of the things that we're still struggling with is being aggressive every day. Our style of play is that we're going to play fast. We want to score in seven seconds in transition. Some days it happens and some days it doesn't. We want to be aggressive and pressure the ball all of the time. We might get that for forty-five minutes of practice, and for the next twenty minutes, take a break with it.
It's a process; we'll find where we are right now. We don't want to be championship-caliber right now because championships are won in March. "
On team playing style...
"We want to play fast. We're going to throw the ball around the gym for a while until we get it together. Again, it's an opportunity to play as fast as we can, under control.
Secondly, we're going to defend everybody for 94 feet. They're going to know when they walk in the doors that they are going to get pressed. When we get in foul trouble or anything like that, we'll switch it up to a match-up (zone) just to throw some people off, but were going to change defenses, not allow people to run their sets.
I just don't think we're going to be a team that's disciplined enough with different scouting reports and be able to try to govern different things that they do and disrupt that. I think we have to disrupt them, do what we do, and not worry about what other people do."
On what it takes to compete in the American Athletic Conference...
"Last year is last year. I was not here, and it's a new year and new day. That's the first thing we did with last year. The second thing we do is we compete in every drill. We have a winner and a loser in every drill that we do and it creates that mentality and understanding that you have to compete and there's no other way to really do that.
We go into every practice and the players know there's a winner and a loser. We compete at it every single day."
On being a part of practice...
"Any kind of drill, I'm up and down the sideline. I am definitely involved doing any kind of drill that we are doing. Whether were working on ball screens, transitions, I'm throwing the ball, I'm outletting, guarding. Its what I do every day; it's the easy part. I eat, sleep, and drink basketball so it's the easy part."
On possible players to keep an eye on...
"They all right now are trying to figure us out, as well as we're trying to figure them out on the basketball court. Every day, we go into practice it's a new lineup, for what five or six or seven is on the red team or the gray team. We still mix them up but the one thing I can tell you is that we get something positive every day.
Every person brings something positive every single day, and we don't have much negativity in our practices. They are all competitive, every one is getting up and down the floor, and they are really excited about what they are doing.
The accountability is through the roof. The one thing we do everyday is we have the opportunity to have everybody step up to be the best that they can be. We will address you to your face and we let you know if you are doing something right or if you are doing something wrong so we can get it corrected."
On the non-conference schedule...
"The first game when we are in Puerto Rico against James Madison - they are a pretty tough team. He (head coach Kenny Brooks) does a great job there. I think they went to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year, so that is one game.
Playing against and at Texas A&M is always going to be a tough game, when you get to play an SEC opponent like that. At Texas Tech, a Big XII opponent - we're just looking forward to all of those opportunities to show people that we belong.
After those games, we will see what the naysayers have to say."
