Hey, I appreciate you guys coming out. I thought this was a great venue. You know, I thought from an administrative standpoint, they did a tremendous job organizing this and fun crowd for sure. Hats off to Jeff MIDI. Great coach. He's got a great team veteran team playing at a really high level right now, Lee's an awfully special player, but, you know, I watched them on film and I'm so impressed with their guard play and just their understanding of their roles and taken really good shots for the good of the team. And, you know, just super impressed with with Jeff's crew. And I think they got a chance to do some really special things this year. Obviously, from our standpoint, you know, came out of the gates pretty strong didn't shoot it very well. I think we, for whatever reason, the game was sped up for us shots that we typically are able to knock down I thought we had some good looks. Got to the free throw line in that first half. Second half, we struggled. But, again, I think it's a it's a 40 minute game and we keep telling our players you know, it's going to be some ebb and flow. You know, we'll throw a punch to throw a punch and we've got to respond to it felt like we kept it close at half and then in that second, third quarter, they just came out and and put the pedal to the metal and didn't look back.
Forwards when you see in that third quarter one, Walmart is a difference within putting the pedal to the metal.
Yeah, you know, I think, to be honest with you, we felt like at half they weren't shooting the three ball very well. We know they're capable of it, but weren't shooting extremely well in that first half. And so we felt like we need to change something up defensively. And this is where K state's so good because they have that inside outside punch. And so we changed up our zone to a diamond in one and they got they got some good rhythm threes and we're able to knock them down
I'm curious what you saw when you're scouting for a number of boards. And when she made them
I think she's a glue player for them. You know, she just she plays at her pace. She doesn't get sped up. You just watch her she doesn't get real high real low. You don't see any frustration. It's the next play mentality. She's just a veteran. I mean she does a great she's a great for general. I think she settles everyone down. She probably doesn't get enough credit for her defense. I think watching them on film that was probably one of the most impressive things with K State is their ability to get through screening action untouched. And they do a really good job of that and I think she's probably one of the best on the team
by coach going into this game thinking about playing against a senator likely a free con Conference Player for K State. What was kind of your guys's thoughts going into the game on how you're going to defenders and what are your What's your game plan now moving forward knowing
that you're gonna have some more senators when you have to call from play? Yeah, so I mean, it's game by game Scout but you know for Lee we felt like she's really good when she can get a body in really create on a seal. And we think you know, there you got to give a ton of credits to these guards because they just hit her timely with timely passes on target passes. But we felt like we could do a better job of just trying to play in space and not let her get those depot seals and that's where we started with our three two zone and you know, we had some possessions that we were bouncing around pretty good and other possessions that would get lost on you know they'd get some offensive rebounds or we'd get lost on that weak side that kind of came back to bite us a little bit but she's an elite level player. They do a great job utilizing her. She plays with great pace obviously finishes really well and doesn't force much of the action.
Just like non basketball court and we know the attraction gentleman he had been playing this game here in St. Joseph, what was the attraction for the University of Missouri company to say, you
know, I think these games at this point in season are so important I think in your non conference schedule, you know, there's a balance between you know, having some gains, we can kind of build some momentum and build confidence but also games that are gonna prepare you for the SEC and play in power five schools I think is really important for us, you know, Kansas City area, I think from a recruiting standpoint, I think from players that are from this area, I've always said this I think games like this where you have players that have played against each other and with each other in high school and AAU, I think creates a pretty fun fan base. You know, both ways to support and, and cheer and so I just I think it's great for the game and you know, I get a lot of respect for Jeff and his program and knew they'd have a squad we knew it would be a tough test for us. But also we'll learn from him will be better because of it. I think it was a very well run organization. Very impressed with everything that they've done. It was first class from top to bottom alright
we're going to open up to you guys on Zoom for a couple of questions. Go ahead.
Abby got the start today. What
did you think about the way that she played? Yeah, I thought she had some good stretches. I was really you know, I felt like you know, she's a veteran. She's She's has a ton of experience in her belt and I thought she responded really? Well. One
of the things that kind of stands out on the stat sheet is the rebounding. I was curious what you thought about your guys's effort on the boards and maybe kind of what the focus will be in practice to kind of get better in that department.
Yeah, it was it was not where it needed to be. And again, I don't you know, hats off to K State great team, great coach. So not trying to shortchange them by any stretch of the imagination, but we talk a lot about pursuing the ball offensively and I just felt like there were way too many possessions where we didn't pursue the ball. You know, hey, state's not a team that's known for their transition offense. And so you know, to really take advantage of seven three, if not four to the board's was something that we talked about. We felt like we could cover from a transition defense standpoint, but wasn't where it needed to be and certainly will be something we'll continue to focus on in practice.
Is that a part of the game where you miss having Angelica out there?
Well, we miss a lot. I mean, she's, uh, you know her in every boat that would be starting for us and but we're not going to make excuses. I mean, you know, the injury bug hits everybody and you got to find a way to you know, just make adjustments where she helped us Absolutely. There's no doubt about it. I mean, she was a double double at UMass and somebody that we're we're really counting on to be a big presence for us. But bottom line is we didn't pursue the ball at the level that we needed to consistently. Typically we shoot better than we did tonight. And But tonight, we didn't shoot well. So there's a lot of opportunities to get some second and third shot opportunities and, and we just didn't empty our tank on that end of the court.
What was your message to your team after this one?
Yeah, I kept it pretty short. You know, I think, you know, we want to win games. Like that. And I think it's gonna, we'll see how we show up next week for for our workouts and for our film sessions. It's a great group. Probably one of the most enjoyable groups I've ever coached. I know they're, I know they want it they worked really hard. They've done so much more than what's required. This one's you know, gonna sting for a while and we're gonna have to watch film, but this is a group that I believe in. And I think, you know, unfortunately, with some players out, it's been a little bit tougher non-carbon than what we had hoped for. But I do think that it's a it's only going to make us stronger. Once we get in sec.
We'll take one or two more guys.
Go to what are some of the lessons you hope your team takes away from this game? And then also, you mentioned how great their character is and wanting to improve. So what do you expect them their mindset to be to be able to improve from this one? Well, I think I mean, their competitors, you know, everybody wants to win. So in there a group that like I've said, All year long has done so much more than what's required outside of practice and any group I've ever coached and so, you know, this one's gonna sting. I think it's mentally as much as physically. You know, where it was our headspace. You know, when adversity struck, we weren't shooting the ball. Well, where'd we go on the defensive end? Did we have that same kind of grit and toughness, as if the ball was falling? How do we respond? And so I think it's as much mental as it is. Physical. Are there things we need to work on physically? Absolutely. But will will break down film or will continue to learn and grow and like I said, if we're learning, we're getting better. That's the most important thing to me. This is a really good case state team. I think they're gonna have a great run. Throughout the course this season, deepen the NCAA tournament. Obviously, this one, this one hurts, but we'll be better because of it. We'll take one more.
Coach. You had three games in the past week and for in the last 10 days. Now you have a week off before you head to Illinois. How do you prepare for that game?
Yeah, you know, I wish we could practice starting tomorrow, but I think some time off is going to be good. They've got a heavy finals load, especially early in the week and so we'll have to manage that. But I think a couple days off and you know, we're gonna get I'm looking forward to Christmas break to be honest with you where we get I got some young ladies that are in some really tough majors and usually that week before finals is even tougher than finals week. But I'm looking forward to having some time where it's just basketball and and film session and and I know these girls are going to continue to work. So we'll make the most of our time next week. It's not always about the length, but just the focus the intensity of the time that we have together. All right, thank you guys.
