Michigan State University Athletics
2014 Women's Basketball Media Day Coverage
10/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
EAST LANSING, Mich. - At the Breslin Center Thursday, the Michigan State women's basketball team, held its annual media day. Head coach Suzy Merchant and the Spartan student-athletes spoke with media from across the state to preview the 2014-15 season.
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Head Coach Suzy Merchant Press Conference Transcript
COACH MERCHANT: Good evening, good afternoon, good morning, whatever it is. I just want to welcome everybody to women's basketball media day. In some ways it's hard to believe that it's here and in other ways we're rolling up our sleeves and have been at it for a while.
We're thrilled about our program, certainly and the success of the program but every year is a new year and you start over. But you do have to kind of look back to figure out what we're going to do in the future and for us to return almost 60 percent of our scoring offense is a positive thing. To return a really classy, hard working group of seniors is equally refreshing I think as a coach.
As your seniors go, so go your team. We're excited about Jasmine Hines and certainly excited about Becca Mills as well, and I would put Madison Williams in there, too. Maybe she can't contribute with points and rebounds at times but has been extremely significant for us. You're timing me, aren't you? On my opening statement? This is a long one for me.
I would like to say that I am excited about our incoming freshmen, they're going to be impactful, they're going to play a lot of minutes early, that can be good, that can being bad, two freshmen led to us a Big Ten championship so that hasn't actually been a bad thing here at Michigan State, in Tori and Aerial. So, we've really been pleased with our freshmen class as well. So with that extremely long opening statement for me, I will take questions.
Midnight madness were you trying to be Beyoncé or Barbarella?
Someone texted me and said "Be non ce" and I agree with that but when I saw Izzo in 8 inch platform shoes I felt like I had to throw it out there, too. I am glad that 1 minute 23 seconds of my life is completely over and in the past. Although not on You Tube, I suppose, right? Unfortunately.
With Branndais being lost for the season with ACL
Well, I mean, ACLs are six month deals so that puts her in Jan. That's going to be interesting. She has had a couple set backs so honestly until we get to that point is does make it difficult to make that decision right now.
Which freshmen are going to have to step up and take her place?
I think from a guard perspective, Jasmine Lumpkin has been performing extremely well and Lexi Gussert, from the UPs and Ms. Basketball in the state of Michigan, both those kids have been in the guard position have stepped in and done some amazing things in practice. As freshmen, always, you have to work really hard to get ready for the mental transitions and the pace of the game. Doesn't matter how athletic you are or vice versa, the mental transitions and the pace and knowing the system and knowing where to be all the time.
When you think the game you usually can be slower in reacting so for them it's just about getting lots of reps and fortunately for us, they're high IQ kids and have gotten a lot of reps in practice so they're getting better and better every single day, but those two kids will step up and maybe together combine. Because Brandi, honestly, was one of our better place down the stretch last season and was having an amazing season and was taking off so it's disappointing shell not be with us from the beginning of the year on and we will have to wait and see in Jan.
Suzy, obviously two Big Ten championships in the last four years. What's the next step for this program and the challenges to getting to that step?
I mean it's always about the national scene, you know, women's basketball I think for us, we want to keep pushing through and have an opportunity to play for a national championship. I'm no different than any coach that coaches at this level.
We think about that all the time. I think maybe getting an opportunity to get back and host, I think that does help, obviously in the first and second rounds and we've done that in the past and I know there's opportunity hopefully in the future to do that again with our fan base and the success that we have had. So for us I think it is about having the opportunity to, one, stay healthy all year and push through in the NCAA Tournament and have an opportunity to play for a national championship.
Along with your players developing you've made it clear that you want to develop as a coach last summer stating that you wanted to improve your offensive coaching abilities, was there something you looked at this summer and wanted to improve?
Absolutely, myself and Mark Simons got together and studied a couple of different offenses, one in particular that we're excited about and actually met with the person that was the inception, built that offense, and that was an amazing day in and of itself.
Certainly for us, that is the one area that I felt like we needed improvement on. For us, we've always been a very good set team, focused on creating mismatch opportunities, bigs that can shoot, guards that can post it, that kind of thing. So we've always been able to that and I've always believed in that but for me to define a fault offense we can go to once a set breaks down was something that I thought our program needed and we spent a lot of time in the off season trying to prepare for that.
Suzy can you talk about Tori? Obviously played more of the point in the stretch down the year last year, maybe what she worked on over the summer to take on that role full time?
I thought in a lot of ways having Tori and Klarissa both move from that off guard position to play the point it did offer more opportunities to score more points. The kid has a scoring mentality and when you have that at the point guard position it really does change your offense. What Tori has been able to do it continue to build that part of they are game, the consistency from the outside but more importantly be able to put the ball on the floor and add that playmaker piece to her game. She had a tremendous off season and right now is doing a great job when they runs the 1 and plays the point guard position and has a commanding presence, has ball security, runs our program and runs the kids to the left and right of her extremely well while at the same time she is aggressive in attacking in a guard scoring mentality. It's exciting. She looks really, really good in practice.
Tori and Aerial provided a spark for you guys last year as freshmen. How do you hope they continue that this year and maybe grew up over the summer as well?
I think as a freshman you don't know what you don't know and that was good for them. I think sometimes once people have keyed on your strengths, you have to be able to counter that. For Aerial she is good off the bounce, she is great in transition. Toward the end of the Big Ten you saw people try to take some of those things away. With Tori they played her as a shooter only and forced her to put the ball on the deck a little bit which is good and those were the things in the off season I think they have learned and been able to carry over as sophomores trying to lead a team and a program.
And will you rotation be eight, seven? Six without Brandi, more than six, I'm sure.
It's still early to tell, Brad Human at the 5, Mick McCabe at the 2 you guys are good screen setters, aren't you? It's hard for me to say. I think right now certainly you could bank on Aerial, Tori, Becca, Jasmine Hines is in that conversation, getting healthier every day and practicing extremely well this week, so those four kids I think you could probably write in the book, and then that fifth one will be a freshmen. I suspect at this point with Brandi going down, either Lexi or Jas Lumpkin, depending on how Jas Hines is feeling and how she is progressing what kind of shape she's getting in, we may have to start two freshmen early and build her in.
Could you just speak on going forward conference play with the impact of Maryland being in the conference now and with that raising the bar and just different in preparation? Could you give comments on that?
I'm not sure that there will be a difference in preparation necessarily because I think all the coaches in our league, we prepare for every team, every opponent but the one thing that Maryland does bring is a tremendous amount of national recognition and success in the women's game in general and now you're puttin' them in the Big Ten so for us, adding Rutgers and Vivian Stringer and what she has brought to our game. She started coaching our game when I was a toddler, quite honestly and I think a lot of us respect and look up to her and what she has been able to accomplish everywhere she has been. She is a class person and runs a classy program. I feel the same way about Brenda at Maryland. You're going to get high powered, well coached, very aggressive basketball and I think the Big Ten is a perfect fit for them and we look forward to the challenge and the opportunities that allow us to challenges ourselves day in, day out on a national level with the two of them.
With you having put the freshmen in earlier in their season, since they're just coming in, how are you preparing them and getting them ready, their mind set, for that position?
I think as coaches we really try right now to put 'em in situations to be successful, but I think the other piece of that is you gotta you really gotta push the envelope with them. If they're going to play early they got to know that they're going to be relied on, there is a high expectation and a standard they need to meet. There are certain things that as coaches defensively or offensively that we need to make sure they're accountable for. We do that in a variety of ways. Reps in practice, drill work, film work. I think our assistant coaches have done a great job with that freshmen class, bringing them in, studying film individually and they have done a nice job as players watching their iPads and we have a nice app that we added to our iPads that we have at Michigan State for all of our women's basketball players it's called "Player Link" and everything they could imagine is on that to be the best player they can be.
Suzy, I'm assuming Cara Miller might be someone that might factor into your rotation. Can you talk about her and what you might expect out of her this year?
Cara, quite honestly might be my all time favorite on this roster and I don't mean that to be negative to anybody else, I love every kid on this team but I haven't been around too many kids that worked as hard as she does and is genuinely as tough as she is. She broke her nose in practice, didn't know until the end of practice, went and had surgery and the next day was in practice. She doesn't know how to stop. That can be good, that can be bad. Early in her career she was a preferred walk on and she was someone that we felt like over time with lots of reps and in our system she could help us. What Cara's greatest gift is, she's incredibly intelligent, she's a 4.0 accounting student, but she carries that over on the basketball court. She can play three different positions for us, actually she could probably play five if I let her but point guard and center are probably not in her future, so I keep her at the swing and certainly at the four as kinda a four guard line up, but her defense and understanding of what we're trying to accomplish defensively is probably her greatest gift. Where she needs to improve a little bit is ball security, and making sure she's making good decisions offensively, but I've not been around a harder working incredibly grateful and appreciative of the opportunity at Michigan State and just stayed in the fight for the last few years and knows her time is coming and believes that it's coming. So for that I'm grateful as a coach.
It's a lesson that I have watched happen and some kids want it now and that instant gratification sometimes isn't always there as a coach to give a young freshmen. Our freshmen class will have more opportunity than maybe they would have last year so to watch Cara stay in the fight and keep pushing. You're going to see her play minutes this year, no question about it.
Who is capable of running the point for you guys?
We have a few kids. Certainly Tori is the one, she had experience last year and did a really nice job for us. Lexi can play point and has played point. She is a 6 foot point guard, probably her greatest attribute is her ability to pass the ball. She needs more reps at it just like anybody and we have Anna Morrissey, who is a walk on, who is a 4th year senior, and has always played a different kind of role but she has improved so much since she has been here. She is a ball security, smart, headsy kid that certainly I know if given the opportunity will step up. But Tori will probably be the number one, no question about it, at the point guard position.
What's the next step for Aerial in her development?
Multiple positions. We really just locked her in at the 4 last year to be honest. I think she was a kid that really performed better over time if she had reps and it was the same position.
This year she is going to have to be able to play multiple positions, 2, 3 and 4 and if she wants to go on and play in the WNBA, that's her life long passion and then go on and play overseas, she is going to have to be able to play those positions and in some ways maybe play all three. That might make her more marketable for the next level. She is doing a nice job of that, we started that from the inception, October 8th when we started practicing, she has been playing multiple positions.
It isn't natural yet, she liked playing that 4 spot, but to be able to move her around a little bit without taking away from her game, you know, I think last year honestly keeping her at one spot allowed her to play her game without thinking too much and that's when she is at her best so now she might have to slow down a little bit because she plays multiple positions but I think over time that's someone that will pick it up quick and shell be able to move forward and be effective in any position we put her in.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
Redshirt sophomore Aerial Powers
On the upcoming season...
I think we have come a long way. We are all ready to play and ready for the season. We are counting down the days. We are still going to be a fast break team, so fans can look forward to us running. We are going to bring excitement to the game. I feel like the freshmen bring a high level of intensity. We start with three home games, so it is always good playing in front of the home crowd. I have a year under my belt and it's not my first game. At the beginning of last season, I was all over the place and excited. This year I have calmed down and gotten into my zone.
On the upcoming season...
I am very anxious. With one year under my belt and getting a Big Ten title, I want another ring. I am very excited.
On maturity growth from last season...
I have been trying to get better at dealing with not getting calls. We have managers who ref practices, so I have learned to let things go. Also, I have been trying to be more of a vocal leader in practice if I need to voice my opinion, which I didn't do as much last year. I feel like this year I have a little more of a voice because of how I played last year. I am just trying to lead the team and help people out and show leadership as best as I can.
On goals for this season...
After the ring last year, that was a big thing. After that, we all banned together in wanting to get another one. Even the freshmen have talked about wanting one. We talked about Maryland and Rutgers coming into the conference as faster paced teams like you see in the tournament. They can help us out when we play them to get in our rhythm so when we go to the tournament we know what we are facing.
Senior forward Becca Mills
On motivation to have a successful senior year...
I'm extremely motivated. Last time around and you don't want to end with any regrets. You want to give it all you got and try to make something happen.
On being a senior...
Yeah, I still don't really feel like one. I think once it gets about halfway through the season it'll start to hit me more, but it really does fly.
On practices thus far...
I think we have a lot of talent. I think that our young players are really smart and really talented and they've caught on really quickly this year so that's been really exciting for us. Last year I think it took a little longer to get things going and start playing together. I think that this year we could start it off a little better and quicker. Hopefully we'll have something going really well by the end of the season.
On becoming a team...
I think that the team chemistry is built in the summer. When everyone gets here, the freshman especially, they don't really know anyone, but at this point we're all sisters already. So, that part forms in the summer. As for playing together, we play open gyms in the summer and we have a couple practices now with the new rule, but it's nothing like when you get out on the floor for three hours a couple days a week. Now is when we start to build the chemistry on the court and become a team on the court.
On young players...
Yeah, we have a lot of young players that are going to have to step up this year, but they're definitely capable of it. They have to love defense. I think some of them are learning that pretty quickly going through practices with coach. We have a really structured defense and we're very serious about it. You really have to buy in and it takes a lot. I think that's something that I try to help them with. Also just to stay confident and stick with it. When you're a freshman, everything is new. You kind of get a lot thrown at you and coach is on you, so some people can get down. When I was a freshman I had some ups and some major downs, so I'm just trying to keep everyone consistent.
Sophomore guard Tori Jankoska
On focuses this summer...
Quickness was probably the main one because that helps in all aspects, especially defense, which is what I wasn't as great at last year. With the quickness came the defense. It's a lot easier this year for sure. Offense, I have to play the point guard position a little more than I did last year. I spent a little bit of time this summer working on the ball handling and keeping my head up.
On stepping into a leadership role...
Definitely a little bit. It's not that different for me because that's really what I was during high school. I think that's what a lot of us were during high school. It's just not that much different, you just have to be on your best basketball behavior at all times. You can't have those days where you just don't feel like showing up. You really have to set an example and be a leader through vocal and example.
On where the team has come from since March...
A long way. We have three new freshmen that are coming into the mix. From the beginning we have learned so much in the preseason. In the three weeks of practice we've had we've learned a lot. We've put in a lot of offense and a lot of defense. It's a lot for the freshman to learn. As a team, we've come together. We've started playing together more, definitely offensively and, most importantly, defensively. We're starting to learn where people are going to be on the court, who does what well, who you're going to play with the best, and really just learn a lot of the team comradery and being able to play together. I think we've come a long way since March.
On what she's looking forward to most this season...
I'm always excited to start playing games. It's been awhile since March since we've played a game. It's exciting because we have so many new people. We play some good teams right off the bat and we'll be able to see where we're at nationally, not just in the Big Ten. We've got to prove ourselves a little bit. We've lost two seniors that started last year. I think some of the underclassmen as well as upperclassmen that played last year are looking to prove themselves in the Big Ten and nationally.
