Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
Post-Game Quotes: St. Francis
11/27/2020 7:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Michigan State head coach Suzy Merchant
On the start of the season with all the COVID protocols...
We've had a little bit of a different offensive system right now than we've had in the past, mostly because of COVID. I was a little bit nervous too. I've been in situations so much in the past as well where it wasn't COVID but we had a lot of injuries, and we might all of a sudden not even have a point guard to play or, we don't have a post and so being able to kind of adjust some things you know offensively and still have allowed people not to worry about set plays all the time, just being able to play in space and make good reads and I thought we did a good job of that today.
I think giving Lo (Laurel Jacqmain) some opportunity, and we gave Lauren (Rewers) a little opportunity. Will those kids be in our rotation, I don't know, I mean you've got to kind of earn your playing time, certainly, and they had an opportunity. So we'll just evaluate the film and just work on getting better for sure, especially we fouled a little too much early which put some people on the bench.
On Kendall Bostic being one of the bright spots out there tonight and how's she's navigated life being the only freshman in the program as well...
Her work ethic is off the charts, and she's in great shape too. I say that all the time, you can't be an elite player and think you're going to be a great player night in and night out if you're fighting your lungs and battling your conditioning, so she's someone that really came in here and committed to making sure she's in great shape. But also is in the gym all the time, she comes in here on her own, she works out quite a bit with Coach Dean (Lockwood), and that has allowed her to play multiple positions for us as a freshman, which is pretty unusual. Her work ethic is off the charts; she's very passionate about getting better every day. She is someone that calls the coaches and asks things like what can she do to get better. I just really appreciate someone that's a sponge that really has invested in themselves, again you can't be a great player if you just want to be have a minimal effort sometimes and so the one thing about her is she gives us 100 percent in practice when it's required. But she also adds in the extra time in the gym and you can see it paying off, so we are really proud to have her.
On Nia Clouden being named Preseason All-Big Ten and how she did tonight in her first game of the season...
I think it's a really good line to start out when you have 15 points and 10 assists, starting out with a double-double is kind of what you want your first-team All-Conference player to do. Nia's just got ice in her veins, I think she's somebody that we certainly have a lot more things we could have done for her tonight, but, as we're playing such early Big Ten games and other games, I think we're just trying to let other people play a little bit, nobody played over 30 minutes, but also just letting some things happen in the flow of the game, so that we can kind of keep working on some of the things that we need to be able to have down the stretch. With Nia, it all kind of starts and ends with a great point guard, and I think at the end of the day, if you don't have that position, and when you have someone special like that they can not only score themselves, but pass the ball, I think that makes a huge difference.
On locking down on St. Francis on defense and how they carry that over to future games, starting with Detroit Mercy next week...
I know it sounds crazy, but I was not very pleased with defensively, some of the things that we had breakdowns on, just especially guarding the ball I think we have to just continue to get better. I thought we fouled too much too soon and again, we don't have the luxury of doing that right now with some kids that are out. But it's a good starting point, and the film doesn't lie, as they say, and I think it's an opportunity for kids to kind of see, again, where they can get better, and I think your defense is something that will continue to get better and that's something that we're going do a better job of focusing on. I think we've worked really hard with so many new faces and a little adjustment on the offensive end, and we really are working on that side of the ball a little bit more which is a good thing, but it might have affected our ability to do some things that we normally do a little bit better. Rebounding is a concern of ours and we're going to continue to get a little more physical, and a little more physicality as well.
On Kendall Bostic communicating well on defense and how that will translate to helping her once get into Big Ten play...
Yeah, I mean she really has a high IQ for the game already, that certainly stems from a lot of things, her mom played at Indiana and dad played, they're both coaches, she's kind of a coach's kid, played in a really good program in Indiana, an AAU program that was very team oriented. You don't always say that about AAU programs but the one she played in, their coach does a really good job of sharing the ball and they do have some talented players but they played well together, and I think Kendall sees the value of that. But she certainly just outworks people and she plays with such toughness and really pushes the envelope and transition and she gets to the boards, she catches it high, keeps it high, she's multi-dimensional, she can shoot the three, she's really good at reading defenses and making the extra pass and, as you mentioned, part of communication as a freshman is usually something they don't have, but she really understands the game and like I said, comes from a family that really understands basketball and was taught to her from a young age, how to play, as well as the coaches in her life so she's above and beyond most freshmen at this time.
On the start of the season with all the COVID protocols...
We've had a little bit of a different offensive system right now than we've had in the past, mostly because of COVID. I was a little bit nervous too. I've been in situations so much in the past as well where it wasn't COVID but we had a lot of injuries, and we might all of a sudden not even have a point guard to play or, we don't have a post and so being able to kind of adjust some things you know offensively and still have allowed people not to worry about set plays all the time, just being able to play in space and make good reads and I thought we did a good job of that today.
I think giving Lo (Laurel Jacqmain) some opportunity, and we gave Lauren (Rewers) a little opportunity. Will those kids be in our rotation, I don't know, I mean you've got to kind of earn your playing time, certainly, and they had an opportunity. So we'll just evaluate the film and just work on getting better for sure, especially we fouled a little too much early which put some people on the bench.
On Kendall Bostic being one of the bright spots out there tonight and how's she's navigated life being the only freshman in the program as well...
Her work ethic is off the charts, and she's in great shape too. I say that all the time, you can't be an elite player and think you're going to be a great player night in and night out if you're fighting your lungs and battling your conditioning, so she's someone that really came in here and committed to making sure she's in great shape. But also is in the gym all the time, she comes in here on her own, she works out quite a bit with Coach Dean (Lockwood), and that has allowed her to play multiple positions for us as a freshman, which is pretty unusual. Her work ethic is off the charts; she's very passionate about getting better every day. She is someone that calls the coaches and asks things like what can she do to get better. I just really appreciate someone that's a sponge that really has invested in themselves, again you can't be a great player if you just want to be have a minimal effort sometimes and so the one thing about her is she gives us 100 percent in practice when it's required. But she also adds in the extra time in the gym and you can see it paying off, so we are really proud to have her.
On Nia Clouden being named Preseason All-Big Ten and how she did tonight in her first game of the season...
I think it's a really good line to start out when you have 15 points and 10 assists, starting out with a double-double is kind of what you want your first-team All-Conference player to do. Nia's just got ice in her veins, I think she's somebody that we certainly have a lot more things we could have done for her tonight, but, as we're playing such early Big Ten games and other games, I think we're just trying to let other people play a little bit, nobody played over 30 minutes, but also just letting some things happen in the flow of the game, so that we can kind of keep working on some of the things that we need to be able to have down the stretch. With Nia, it all kind of starts and ends with a great point guard, and I think at the end of the day, if you don't have that position, and when you have someone special like that they can not only score themselves, but pass the ball, I think that makes a huge difference.
On locking down on St. Francis on defense and how they carry that over to future games, starting with Detroit Mercy next week...
I know it sounds crazy, but I was not very pleased with defensively, some of the things that we had breakdowns on, just especially guarding the ball I think we have to just continue to get better. I thought we fouled too much too soon and again, we don't have the luxury of doing that right now with some kids that are out. But it's a good starting point, and the film doesn't lie, as they say, and I think it's an opportunity for kids to kind of see, again, where they can get better, and I think your defense is something that will continue to get better and that's something that we're going do a better job of focusing on. I think we've worked really hard with so many new faces and a little adjustment on the offensive end, and we really are working on that side of the ball a little bit more which is a good thing, but it might have affected our ability to do some things that we normally do a little bit better. Rebounding is a concern of ours and we're going to continue to get a little more physical, and a little more physicality as well.
On Kendall Bostic communicating well on defense and how that will translate to helping her once get into Big Ten play...
Yeah, I mean she really has a high IQ for the game already, that certainly stems from a lot of things, her mom played at Indiana and dad played, they're both coaches, she's kind of a coach's kid, played in a really good program in Indiana, an AAU program that was very team oriented. You don't always say that about AAU programs but the one she played in, their coach does a really good job of sharing the ball and they do have some talented players but they played well together, and I think Kendall sees the value of that. But she certainly just outworks people and she plays with such toughness and really pushes the envelope and transition and she gets to the boards, she catches it high, keeps it high, she's multi-dimensional, she can shoot the three, she's really good at reading defenses and making the extra pass and, as you mentioned, part of communication as a freshman is usually something they don't have, but she really understands the game and like I said, comes from a family that really understands basketball and was taught to her from a young age, how to play, as well as the coaches in her life so she's above and beyond most freshmen at this time.
Players Mentioned
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