Stone Addresses Media
December 03, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Wisconsin women's basketball coach Lisa Stone addressed the media Monday afternoon discussing the Badgers' home games this week against in-state rival UW-Milwaukee on Tuesday and Air Force on Saturday. Tuesday's game against the Panthers is scheduled for 7 p.m., while Saturday's tip off is set for 11 a.m.
Below is the transcript from the press conference. You can also click here to watch the archived video of the press conference.
QUESTION #1: Coach, if you could start out by maybe discussing the post-production, especially from Tara Steinbauer's start last night and maybe what's lacking from your upperclassmen in regards to post-play '
LISA STONE: Well, you know, again, it's early in the season. We're trying to find some spark. And I thought Tara Steinbauer gave us great energy early on. And, you know, it doesn't always show up in scoring, but in this case, it did. Tara scores the first seven points of the game last night really gave us a boost of energy, and I think also instilled some confidence in other players that may be coming in and rotating in off the bench.
But to have another scorer in particular, one's that not in the post area, really helps us. It takes a little pressure off our guards. It was nice to have Jolene play less than 30 minutes last night and to find some scoring from some other people, particularly early on in the game. It puts a team that comes in preparing to guard our perimeter now, but made some adjustments because we're getting some production inside.
The answer to your second question, it's, again, it's something that we stay with confidence. I'm a positive person. I keep trying to put some onus and some focus, and some pride in the fact that, seniors, this is your team. This is what you 've been waiting for. And we've challenged that upperclassmen with a tough non-conference schedule.
We're now here at home. I think there's certainly comfort at home, but there's also with that comes some representation, and our kids know it. No one 's trying to do the wrong thing. They're all trying to do the right thing, and we stick together. And if someone else shines in a different moment, and it 's a senior one day and a freshman the next, so be it. We're a team. And the fact that we're finding some scoring from different people is encouraging to me.
QUESTION #2: What attribute sticks out the most about Tara' I mean, is there one thing that you can pick out'
STONE: She finishes inside. She has great hands. And, you know, undersized, 6-1, she's great at the five. You know, normally you 'd play maybe Lin Zastrow at 6-5 on the block and Tara out at the four, but in a lot of ways, it's better in reverse order. Lin Zastrow is our best post passer, no question. And Tara Steinbauer right now is our best finisher inside, right now. Now that is encouraging for them, and it helps others motivate themselves to up their game as well, but Tara can finish inside. She catches, and she finishes.
QUESTION #3: Forty-eight percent from the field is pretty good, and you mentioned something after the game about good shot selection. It seemed like the shots followed more in the offense. Would you agree'
STONE: Yeah. And our 48%, I think, is low compared to the first half, we were over 60%, and the second half for a bit there, the left side of the basket, I think something was wrong with the rim. We missed a ton of shots on that left block. I'm joking about that, but it appeared that way because we had, I think that 48% is closer to 60% in the second half. We got to capitalize inside. We 've got the post touches that we wanted, and that's just again a measure we can look on film and so forth.
But the bottom line is we're getting good shots, and I like that. They 'll go down. And that's again a level of confidence, a level of assurance that being patient and finding good shot selection, one, it reduces your turnovers, and, two, improves your percentage.
QUESTION #4: Coach, what do you want to get out of these next four non-conference games before conference play starts'
STONE: Momentum, no question. Confidence, momentum, continued chemistry, reducing turnovers, commitment to the boards, defensively, stepping it up a notch, and I thought that was indicative of our second half start yesterday. I believe there was a 20 to 5 run to start the second half. We made some adjustments. We got up in their shorts and turned it up a little bit defensively, and I think that was beneficial to us and a lesson to be learned.
The other thing is the commitment to the boards. It was even at the half, we out rebounded by 22 in the second half, that helps us. So those are some things that again it builds moment, confidence, an understanding of what we're trying to get going. And again, we traveled all of November. It's time for us to be home for a bit.
QUESTION #5: Lisa, do you see your three seniors maybe trying so hard because they know this is it'
STONE: Absolutely. You can't think but positive things about their efforts, and their want, and their will, and they know that their careers are winding down just a bit. And at some times, you know, and Jolene has been as consistent as it gets. You know, I think Janese Banks is finding her rhythm right now. I think Danielle Ward demonstrates some all-American abilities at times, but again, fouls have plagued her her entire career.
But the fact that those three in particular who have been through a lot since they 've been here, I don't know that they're feeling pressure. I think that the expectation sometimes makes it hurried. But they know they've got a nice freshman class with some abilities, a very strong sophomore class that saw a lot of action last year, and we've got to go on that.
So we're looking forward to the continuity to click, liked what I saw. For about 33 minutes yesterday, we played pretty well. The last seven got a little ugly, but you take the win, and you move on. And going against a rival tomorrow, we'll bring out our best as well.
QUESTION #6: That was my question about UW-Milwaukee. It seems like Sandy has, similar to you, depth and more athleticism than recent years.
STONE: Well, and it revolves around Edwards inside. I mean, she's the real deal, and Sandy's a push player from the area. Sandy and I worked camps together back in like eighth grade, so we've known each a long, long time. And I'm a guard, and she's a post. And I picked her when we played in a coach's three-and-three contest at the National Convention every year because she's a good post.
And so I know that ball's going into Edwards. She's going to touch it each time. I think it's certainly a priority, and you can see with her stats. I think they've got great athletes on the perimeter. They've got some stability in Anson(') that started for them last year, a transfer from Boston College or Boston University is back playing for them. She's very level headed, great point guard. And they've got a handful of athletes coming off the bench as far as being on the court.
Marcourt, I think, is a great player, a great utility player, works very, very hard. She reminds me a lot of the O'Brien kid from Columbus that played for them for years. So she got a blue-collar team. They'll play very hard. They're going to make a presence inside, go at us inside, and it'll be a competitive game.
