Pregame Press Conference Quotes (at Detroit, at Eastern Michigan)
12/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2011
Michigan Head Coach Kevin Borseth
On Detroit Mercy and what to expect ... "They beat us last year and they beat us, handily, here on our floor. It was a very sore point in the year for us when they beat us, and they outplayed us the whole game. I thought our game plan wasn't very good coming in and I thought they played extremely well. We didn't make any shots against them. I think we shot very poorly; I think we shot twenty-some percent in the second half which didn't help us, and things kind of snowballed from there. The big kid they have is like a baby Shaq. She's about six feet tall, but she's like Shaquille O'Neal. She's pretty strong, lefthanded, very efficient, and a very, very good basketball player. So far, she's done extremely well. Their games have all been one- and two-point games that they have lost, so even though they have only won one or two games, when you look at their point differential -- one point, two points, three points -- those are the games that they have lost. They could very easily be undefeated at this point. We have to take care of business on our end to try to make amends for last year, because I don't think we played our best basketball last year when we played against them."
On Detroit Mercy's lack of size, and how Michigan's similar lack of size will affect the game ... "From a size perspective, we're relatively the same size, unless Kate (Thompson) and Sam (Arnold) get in the lineup, then it becomes a little bit different for us. They're (Detroit) very athletic and very quick and sometimes that poses a problem. If you don't have the help in the right spots, all of a sudden that poses problems. Going back to a question earlier, of getting in gaps and helping one another, getting the rebounds and eliminating the one shot is what you want to be able to do. But they're very crafty because they're quick and they get into crevices that many people can't get into."
On Eastern Michigan and their seniors and experience ... "They were good last year and they're good this year. They are very similar to Detroit in terms of size and athleticism. They're just very quick, very athletic, transition-oriented, and very aggressive. That's the kind of team they are. Of course we have to play them over there again, and home-court advantage is home-court advantage. It's always good to play at home, but it is what it is. It's a very sore spot. We have two games back-to-back that were very sore spots for us [last year]. We have to make sure that our preparation for these two games is better than it was last year because we got into those two games and it didn't feel like we were prepared well enough to play against those two teams."
On something the team will prepare for when playing Detroit Mercy and Eastern Michigan ... "They are very good in transition. These teams are athletic in transition and they can go, and they can get to the rim. ... This is their NCAA final; they're playing the University of Michigan and this is what they play for. You have to be careful to have a balance and that you're very good at what you do inside and outside and don't overcompensate in one area like we did last year. At our end of the court we didn't do anything. We didn't shoot and we didn't score against either one of these teams. We did not put the ball in the basket. We scored 48 points against Detroit and we scored 48 points against Eastern Michigan University. If you score 48 points in the game of basketball, you are not winning many games unless you date yourself back to 1942, then you have a chance. Forty-eight points is not getting it done."
On the biggest adjustment they will have to make from last year ... "I think mentally going into the game, knowing what we know about their offense and the things that they do, we have to be ready for that. Offensively we have to be efficient. We have to be very efficient because sometimes these teams tend to take the air out of it and be very deliberate. While you're protecting, they're being deliberate, and the clock is winding, so you have to be careful on your end not to spend 25 seconds on defense and five seconds on offense. ... You have to match the pace of the game, whatever that pace is, and you have to be really efficient against these teams."
U-M Freshman Guard Nicole Elmblad
On what the team has been doing this week during practice ... "We try to take things one game at a time, and we are looking at Detroit right now. We are working on the things that we are good at. We want to look at doing things defensively, like shutting them down by rebounding. Detroit is an athletic team so we are going to have to work on being able to guard them one-on-one and shutting them down defensively."
On what struggle she might have individually against Detroit ... "I think, personally, just being able to get out on defense and putting some pressure on them. We have to do that collectively as a team. Working together, getting rebounds, having each other get stops on defense."
On what her role is as a freshman on the team ... "We have some great senior leaders and veteran leaders that are stepping up, getting us points. If my time comes, when I need to be the one to do that, I'm hoping that I can contribute in that way. Right now, I'm hoping that I am contributing on the defensive end, and on offense, getting things done like rebounding and finding open players."
U-M Senior Guard/Forward Carmen Reynolds
On how Michigan is going to use their last year's losses to Detroit and Eastern Michigan to beat them this year ... "Losing to both of those teams last year gives us a lot of motivation to get redemption and to show them that we are the better team. We can do it. We need to stay confident and stick to our game plan. I think we can definitely get them back this year."
On what is going to be different this year compared to last year ... "I think this year we are more confident. Coming off already having eight wins under our belt is going to help us and we are going to use that to our advantage. We know what it feels like to win and we know what it takes."
