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Head Coach Quentin Hillsman Transcript
Women’s Basketball Media Day
October 14, 2011
Carmelo Anthony Center – Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Quentin Hillsman
Opening Statement:
“Obviously it’s great to be here and to see all of you here. As usual, we appreciate you being here and taking an interest in our program. One thing about going into this year, I really stepped back and looked at the past couple of years and where we’ve been. I have accepted things that we fell a little bit short on. Obviously, winning 25 games in the last two years was very good for us, but we understand what the goal is. The goal is to be in the NCAA Tournament and move forward in that tournament. I think we have done a good job of mastering the NIT. We played pretty good in the NIT. We want to move forward and do the same thing in the NCAA Tournament.
“One thing that I know is that being here without Tasha Harris, Erica Morrow, and looking at the players we have lost in the last three or four years – Nicole Michael, Juanita Ward, and Chandrea Jones – you can go on and on, those were some very good players for us and they have done a lot for our program. Moving forward, I felt like there were some things that we needed to change. The way we play and the way we approach games. One thing that you guys are going to see more is us playing a lot further up the floor on defense. We have already installed two or three pressure defenses. We really want to get out and extend the floor, play faster, and use our athletes. I really feel that we are very athletic at every position. Last year when we led the country in rebounding, which was a major feat for us, we were very proud of what we did. That commitment and hard work goes to our players and how much they commit to rebounding the basketball, so obviously we’ve taken care of that. We return our whole front line, that lineup, and our rebounders. Everyone that has gotten five or six rebounds a game, they are all returning. I feel good about us rebounding the basketball.
“One thing that we definitely are going to do a lot more is really get out and extend the floor, play a lot more pressure defense, and try to speed the game up and get easy baskets. When you look at scoring 70 and 75 points, you have to grind out every possession. It’s really tough to do. You really need to get some easier baskets, really get on the open floor, and take advantage of opportunities. This year is going to be the year where I, the staff, and our team are going to be extremely patient with our expectations. We have to be extremely patient with the way we play. We’re changing everything on defense. We’re getting up the floor and the zone defense has been very good for us. We can always fall back into some zone defenses and some different schemes if necessary. I think I am going to have to be patient with us making some mistakes on defense. We’re going to give up some baskets, pressuring up the floor. At the end of the day, we know that as we get into conference play, the big RPI games, the games that we need to get to the tournament, we have to win those.
“We are very committed to winning basketball games here. I really have put a lot emphasis on our players with conditioning, with us getting stronger and faster. A lot of what we do is going to be directly correlated to our team’s commitment to conditioning, to getting stronger, to executing on defense.
“Offensively, when you talk about what we have done in the paint, we scored very well at the rim. We will continue to play at the basket, make some outside shots, eventually to open things up. More than anything, it’s going to be due to the conditioning. So far, it’s been a grind for us. Our players have responded to the way we are running our preseason. I’m just looking forward to the season, getting back out there, getting back to the Dome, and playing our first game against Long Beach State.”
On the non-conference schedule:
“One thing that is great is playing home at the Dome. When we start off with these games at the Dome, I feel really comfortable playing at home. We have had great success playing at home and in our league. But, but year in and year out that, the one thing has always been scheduling. We thought that we scheduled right last year, we fell a little short. Hopefully we scheduled right this year and win the games we are supposed to win and take care of business and get into the tournament. With the scheduling, it’s just about us getting ready for league play and being ready for the postseason.”
On the team’s point guard situation:
“We are in a good situation here. We look at Erica Morrow and Tasha Harris leaving, two players that played here four years at a very high level. With La’Shay Taft, the things she can do, we will put the ball in her hands and she will be very good for us. We brought in junior Shanee Williams, a junior-college player who was the number two player in the country coming out of junior college. She can take care of the point guard position. We have been playing junior Elashier Hall at the point too. I’m not that concerned about it. Hopefully, we get a lot of turnovers and score in transition. Maybe we will get 40 a game instead of on offense.”
On what has Coach Hillsman most excited about this team:
“How fast they have picked up on our defensive changes. You go home and watch practice and get happy and very excited. That is temporary because it all changes when you get three referees on the court, the clock, the announcer and sometimes it all goes the opposite way. We’re going to have to be patient with it, stick with it, and be very committed to the way we are going to play. We have done a very good job with the pressure defense. We are going to be playing a lot faster. I am very excited about that.”
On how much of a goal it was for a more difficult non-conference schedule:
“I’ll be honest with you – I didn’t have a problem with our schedule last year. That was a little tough. But we all made a commitment over the past couple years really to get the right teams on our schedule. We felt that we have done it this year. We actually felt we did it last year. The people on the committee, they have a hard job. I’m not in the room. I don’t know what they are saying and thinking. All we can do is control the things that we can control, win the games that are on our schedule, try to schedule enough competitive games, and be in that mix that are worthy to be in the tournament. I just feel that this year the way we scheduled our non-conference, if we play well and win the games on our non-conference schedule, then we should be in good shape.”
On how excited Coach Hillsman is to be playing in Las Vegas and Hawaii:
“They are not very exciting to me because I am watching tape and getting ready to play. For our players, to get out and see other parts of the world is very important to us. We are playing Oklahoma, Xavier, BYU, and Arizona in those tournaments. We are going to places seeking competition. Coach Boeheim probably fights the same thing, not many people want to come here. We don’t get BCS teams. Nobody wants to come here to play because they lose. Out of conference, it is tough to schedule. We set up these tournaments to get out on the road and get these quality games.”
On sophomore Rachel Coffey:
“Sophomore Rachel Coffey is very important to us. I didn’t mention her in the list of point guards because she is the most important. That is understood how important she is to us, to our program, and to what we do. Rachel is a very talented basketball player and whenever she gets ready to take a game over and play the way she does, she’s awesome. Right now, it is just a point to last year she had to sit behind Erica Morrow and Tasha Harris. To her credit, she did a great job not complaining about it and learning her role last year. She is critical. We recruited here to be the next point guard in line. It is a plus to have so many people that can play that position, but it is also very good to have a player of her caliber at that position.”
On junior Tyler Ash coming back from injury:
“She is not medically cleared yet so we are trying to get her cleared and back on the floor. When she gets back on the floor, she is going to help us. Right now, we are still waiting.”
On what Coach Vonn Read brings to the staff:
“One thing about Coach Read, when I was a high school coach I went online, searched continuity offense, and his name popped up. I met Coach Read at a Final Four and once Coach Moody went back to Alabama it was tough and I just remember waking up at 11:00 at night and calling him at 11:15 saying ‘Coach, I need you’. It just so happened that he was available and he is one of the best basketball minds in this country. When you talk about being in the WNBA, NBA, D-League, women’s basketball at the collegiate level, he is a great basketball mind. He is stepping in for us and taking over the role that Coach Moody did last year. It is going to be good for us. We really believe we couldn’t get a better person to step in for Coach Moody. We are very excited to have Vonn here.”
On how Coach Hillsman improved as a coach with his international experience this summer:
“I was the third assistant so I didn’t have any responsibilities, I was just watching and critiquing. What’s funny is that I always tell people that until you sit on the bench, you learn so much just by watching another person stand up and make decisions. Also, you can make some decisions and say maybe I would try this or maybe I wouldn’t try this and it doesn’t have anything to do with wins or losses. It was great. The international game is so different. There are a few things that I have seen over there that I feel like could really help us some and there are a few things that I saw that I don’t think we could ever do. It was a great experience; it was really good to see a different style of basketball. I do think it has made me better, just being to analyze the game.”
On some of the new pieces brought in:
“Not to dodge that, there are a lot of people returning. We are really returning so much of our roster. It is good for us. Our preseason has been fairly easy because we are just improving on some things that we have already done and just add some things, tweaking some things. We just made some improvement on things. Junior Shanee Williams is a very good basketball player and we talked about signing the number two player in junior college basketball in the country. There is only one person better than her. I have no clue where she went, but we got number two so I’ll take her. She can play three positions for us, so she is going to be stepping in for us, which is a very big part for us.”
On limiting turnovers:
“I always tease Kayla Alexander because our turnovers are so inflated because Kayla gets so many three seconds calls, which I have no problem with. I want her to be in the lane, post up, and maintain position. One thing that gets her with turnovers is our commitment to feed the post and get the ball inside. That is great for our team to continue to look inside and high-low with Iasia Hemingway. She was first team all-conference. We are going to continue and hopefully force as many turnovers with our pressure defense to even that number out.”
October 14, 2011
Carmelo Anthony Center – Syracuse, N.Y.
Head Coach Quentin Hillsman
Opening Statement:
“Obviously it’s great to be here and to see all of you here. As usual, we appreciate you being here and taking an interest in our program. One thing about going into this year, I really stepped back and looked at the past couple of years and where we’ve been. I have accepted things that we fell a little bit short on. Obviously, winning 25 games in the last two years was very good for us, but we understand what the goal is. The goal is to be in the NCAA Tournament and move forward in that tournament. I think we have done a good job of mastering the NIT. We played pretty good in the NIT. We want to move forward and do the same thing in the NCAA Tournament.
“One thing that I know is that being here without Tasha Harris, Erica Morrow, and looking at the players we have lost in the last three or four years – Nicole Michael, Juanita Ward, and Chandrea Jones – you can go on and on, those were some very good players for us and they have done a lot for our program. Moving forward, I felt like there were some things that we needed to change. The way we play and the way we approach games. One thing that you guys are going to see more is us playing a lot further up the floor on defense. We have already installed two or three pressure defenses. We really want to get out and extend the floor, play faster, and use our athletes. I really feel that we are very athletic at every position. Last year when we led the country in rebounding, which was a major feat for us, we were very proud of what we did. That commitment and hard work goes to our players and how much they commit to rebounding the basketball, so obviously we’ve taken care of that. We return our whole front line, that lineup, and our rebounders. Everyone that has gotten five or six rebounds a game, they are all returning. I feel good about us rebounding the basketball.
“One thing that we definitely are going to do a lot more is really get out and extend the floor, play a lot more pressure defense, and try to speed the game up and get easy baskets. When you look at scoring 70 and 75 points, you have to grind out every possession. It’s really tough to do. You really need to get some easier baskets, really get on the open floor, and take advantage of opportunities. This year is going to be the year where I, the staff, and our team are going to be extremely patient with our expectations. We have to be extremely patient with the way we play. We’re changing everything on defense. We’re getting up the floor and the zone defense has been very good for us. We can always fall back into some zone defenses and some different schemes if necessary. I think I am going to have to be patient with us making some mistakes on defense. We’re going to give up some baskets, pressuring up the floor. At the end of the day, we know that as we get into conference play, the big RPI games, the games that we need to get to the tournament, we have to win those.
“We are very committed to winning basketball games here. I really have put a lot emphasis on our players with conditioning, with us getting stronger and faster. A lot of what we do is going to be directly correlated to our team’s commitment to conditioning, to getting stronger, to executing on defense.
“Offensively, when you talk about what we have done in the paint, we scored very well at the rim. We will continue to play at the basket, make some outside shots, eventually to open things up. More than anything, it’s going to be due to the conditioning. So far, it’s been a grind for us. Our players have responded to the way we are running our preseason. I’m just looking forward to the season, getting back out there, getting back to the Dome, and playing our first game against Long Beach State.”
On the non-conference schedule:
“One thing that is great is playing home at the Dome. When we start off with these games at the Dome, I feel really comfortable playing at home. We have had great success playing at home and in our league. But, but year in and year out that, the one thing has always been scheduling. We thought that we scheduled right last year, we fell a little short. Hopefully we scheduled right this year and win the games we are supposed to win and take care of business and get into the tournament. With the scheduling, it’s just about us getting ready for league play and being ready for the postseason.”
On the team’s point guard situation:
“We are in a good situation here. We look at Erica Morrow and Tasha Harris leaving, two players that played here four years at a very high level. With La’Shay Taft, the things she can do, we will put the ball in her hands and she will be very good for us. We brought in junior Shanee Williams, a junior-college player who was the number two player in the country coming out of junior college. She can take care of the point guard position. We have been playing junior Elashier Hall at the point too. I’m not that concerned about it. Hopefully, we get a lot of turnovers and score in transition. Maybe we will get 40 a game instead of on offense.”
On what has Coach Hillsman most excited about this team:
“How fast they have picked up on our defensive changes. You go home and watch practice and get happy and very excited. That is temporary because it all changes when you get three referees on the court, the clock, the announcer and sometimes it all goes the opposite way. We’re going to have to be patient with it, stick with it, and be very committed to the way we are going to play. We have done a very good job with the pressure defense. We are going to be playing a lot faster. I am very excited about that.”
On how much of a goal it was for a more difficult non-conference schedule:
“I’ll be honest with you – I didn’t have a problem with our schedule last year. That was a little tough. But we all made a commitment over the past couple years really to get the right teams on our schedule. We felt that we have done it this year. We actually felt we did it last year. The people on the committee, they have a hard job. I’m not in the room. I don’t know what they are saying and thinking. All we can do is control the things that we can control, win the games that are on our schedule, try to schedule enough competitive games, and be in that mix that are worthy to be in the tournament. I just feel that this year the way we scheduled our non-conference, if we play well and win the games on our non-conference schedule, then we should be in good shape.”
On how excited Coach Hillsman is to be playing in Las Vegas and Hawaii:
“They are not very exciting to me because I am watching tape and getting ready to play. For our players, to get out and see other parts of the world is very important to us. We are playing Oklahoma, Xavier, BYU, and Arizona in those tournaments. We are going to places seeking competition. Coach Boeheim probably fights the same thing, not many people want to come here. We don’t get BCS teams. Nobody wants to come here to play because they lose. Out of conference, it is tough to schedule. We set up these tournaments to get out on the road and get these quality games.”
On sophomore Rachel Coffey:
“Sophomore Rachel Coffey is very important to us. I didn’t mention her in the list of point guards because she is the most important. That is understood how important she is to us, to our program, and to what we do. Rachel is a very talented basketball player and whenever she gets ready to take a game over and play the way she does, she’s awesome. Right now, it is just a point to last year she had to sit behind Erica Morrow and Tasha Harris. To her credit, she did a great job not complaining about it and learning her role last year. She is critical. We recruited here to be the next point guard in line. It is a plus to have so many people that can play that position, but it is also very good to have a player of her caliber at that position.”
On junior Tyler Ash coming back from injury:
“She is not medically cleared yet so we are trying to get her cleared and back on the floor. When she gets back on the floor, she is going to help us. Right now, we are still waiting.”
On what Coach Vonn Read brings to the staff:
“One thing about Coach Read, when I was a high school coach I went online, searched continuity offense, and his name popped up. I met Coach Read at a Final Four and once Coach Moody went back to Alabama it was tough and I just remember waking up at 11:00 at night and calling him at 11:15 saying ‘Coach, I need you’. It just so happened that he was available and he is one of the best basketball minds in this country. When you talk about being in the WNBA, NBA, D-League, women’s basketball at the collegiate level, he is a great basketball mind. He is stepping in for us and taking over the role that Coach Moody did last year. It is going to be good for us. We really believe we couldn’t get a better person to step in for Coach Moody. We are very excited to have Vonn here.”
On how Coach Hillsman improved as a coach with his international experience this summer:
“I was the third assistant so I didn’t have any responsibilities, I was just watching and critiquing. What’s funny is that I always tell people that until you sit on the bench, you learn so much just by watching another person stand up and make decisions. Also, you can make some decisions and say maybe I would try this or maybe I wouldn’t try this and it doesn’t have anything to do with wins or losses. It was great. The international game is so different. There are a few things that I have seen over there that I feel like could really help us some and there are a few things that I saw that I don’t think we could ever do. It was a great experience; it was really good to see a different style of basketball. I do think it has made me better, just being to analyze the game.”
On some of the new pieces brought in:
“Not to dodge that, there are a lot of people returning. We are really returning so much of our roster. It is good for us. Our preseason has been fairly easy because we are just improving on some things that we have already done and just add some things, tweaking some things. We just made some improvement on things. Junior Shanee Williams is a very good basketball player and we talked about signing the number two player in junior college basketball in the country. There is only one person better than her. I have no clue where she went, but we got number two so I’ll take her. She can play three positions for us, so she is going to be stepping in for us, which is a very big part for us.”
On limiting turnovers:
“I always tease Kayla Alexander because our turnovers are so inflated because Kayla gets so many three seconds calls, which I have no problem with. I want her to be in the lane, post up, and maintain position. One thing that gets her with turnovers is our commitment to feed the post and get the ball inside. That is great for our team to continue to look inside and high-low with Iasia Hemingway. She was first team all-conference. We are going to continue and hopefully force as many turnovers with our pressure defense to even that number out.”
