Post-Game Quotes vs. Niagara
11/14/2021 4:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Suzy Merchant
On DeeDee Hagemann's play and Nia Clouden's fouls...
I just see DeeDee and she's a starter whether she's physically starting or not, and maybe that will change here. I just feel like this kid makes everybody better around her. She plays with great energy, she's smart, she sets people up. She had seven assists and they were some that another kid on our team wouldn't have gotten those there. She's looking left, drawing the defense and throws it right. She's got the ability to set people up and she knows where they are. To me, it's just a matter of time with her. Her minutes are always going to be starter minutes. When Nia got in foul trouble, the one thing we did try, I don't normally do it, normally kids with two fouls I sit for the rest of the half. Even Nia said something to me, and I said I have to learn to let go a little bit and see what you can do. I thought she did a good job of making sure she didn't put herself in a tough position there. Traditionally, I have always done that, I am trying to mature as a coach a little bit and trust some. The fact that she knew it and said "I can do it coach", I felt like that was a good sign for sure.
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About Nia Clouden and Alyza Winston...
I feel like we have a few more superheroes than just those two this year. We lost a couple of kids, but I really like the guard play we have, and we have depth at the five position, too. They're different. Tai (Taiyier Parks) comes in and she can give you something different than Smitty (Alisia Smith) can give you. We're trying to figure out what Isa and Brooklyn can do yet. As freshmen, they may not get as many minutes but those two kids we've always kind of known, and they're different, they're unique in their own ways. I think they bring a big element to both the offense and the defense side of the ball. What one doesn't do well the other one does, so it's really kind of nice to put them together sometimes and get a lot out of that position. I thought this was the best that I've seen Tai play top to bottom - hardest, most consistent, great bounce, great energy, communication, aggressiveness. Aggressiveness that didn't sit her next to us. She has always been aggressive, but sometimes that puts her next to me, so it was kind of nice just to see her come together, and she has worked really hard. That's what happens when you become an upperclassman, you kind of figure it out, right?
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About handling aggressive defense from Niagara...Â
Not that well, I think we could have done a better job. We faced pressure in the scrimmage earlier against DePaul that I thought we did a much better job (with). But again, I give Niagara credit, they came in here trying to trap and get their hands on our ball. Sometimes, when you start playing a lot of kids and (having) different combinations. Some of the things I was disappointed (with) were just basic things that at this level you shouldn't have to say like step to meet your pass, step to it and through it, chin it. We would stand there and just go through the passing and little things like that, we are just going to have to tighten up. As coaches, we have to do a better job of making sure what securing the ball means. There's definitely some kind of open areas that we can improve on and that's what these early games are for. We have to get exposed somehow someway, it doesn't matter who does it to you. It allows us just to use that as knowledge, and now we have to work on it in practice every day.Â
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About Isaline Alexander and how she has been acclimating to the team...Â
We're trying to figure that out, too. There's four of them down there as I mentioned, Tai and Smitty are the most experienced and then those next two (are Isaline and Mathilda Ekh). You've seen Isa start to figure it out a little bit. My thing with freshman, especially in that position, is that you have to err on the side of playing harder and more aggressively at this level. When she got her shot blocked, I got into her a little bit, I was like "this is a whole other level, these kids are coming after you, you need to learn shot fakes, don't let anyone block your shot" kind of thing. She responded I thought, and she did a much better job. She has a big upside. We have to get her motor going, she has to learn how to play the pace and the intensity and the comparativeness at this level. I love some of the things she does naturally, her up and under, she's got pretty good hands, she can run the floor, she communicates on the floor whatever we are doing defensively, she's a good rebounder. There's a really big bright spot. But she has to learn to ramp it up. I told all of these guys the other day you have to learn to level up. It's not the same as high school, it's not the same as your summer in Canada. This is big time, and the game is eat or be eaten kind of thing, and you want to go eat. You have to roll up your sleeves and prove in the three, four, five minutes, two minutes, whatever it is, that you belong. I thought after we got on her a little bit there that she showed some things. She had 15 months there where she didn't play because Canada was completely shut down. So, I think she's just taking some time to get there, but some of that is you have to go compete, you have to level up. This is Power-5 basketball and there's another level. It requires gym-time away from practice, it requires more lifting, it requires more film watching. If you want to be a good player you have to invest in yourself and that's where things start.
Â
On DeeDee Hagemann's play and Nia Clouden's fouls...
I just see DeeDee and she's a starter whether she's physically starting or not, and maybe that will change here. I just feel like this kid makes everybody better around her. She plays with great energy, she's smart, she sets people up. She had seven assists and they were some that another kid on our team wouldn't have gotten those there. She's looking left, drawing the defense and throws it right. She's got the ability to set people up and she knows where they are. To me, it's just a matter of time with her. Her minutes are always going to be starter minutes. When Nia got in foul trouble, the one thing we did try, I don't normally do it, normally kids with two fouls I sit for the rest of the half. Even Nia said something to me, and I said I have to learn to let go a little bit and see what you can do. I thought she did a good job of making sure she didn't put herself in a tough position there. Traditionally, I have always done that, I am trying to mature as a coach a little bit and trust some. The fact that she knew it and said "I can do it coach", I felt like that was a good sign for sure.
Â
About Nia Clouden and Alyza Winston...
I feel like we have a few more superheroes than just those two this year. We lost a couple of kids, but I really like the guard play we have, and we have depth at the five position, too. They're different. Tai (Taiyier Parks) comes in and she can give you something different than Smitty (Alisia Smith) can give you. We're trying to figure out what Isa and Brooklyn can do yet. As freshmen, they may not get as many minutes but those two kids we've always kind of known, and they're different, they're unique in their own ways. I think they bring a big element to both the offense and the defense side of the ball. What one doesn't do well the other one does, so it's really kind of nice to put them together sometimes and get a lot out of that position. I thought this was the best that I've seen Tai play top to bottom - hardest, most consistent, great bounce, great energy, communication, aggressiveness. Aggressiveness that didn't sit her next to us. She has always been aggressive, but sometimes that puts her next to me, so it was kind of nice just to see her come together, and she has worked really hard. That's what happens when you become an upperclassman, you kind of figure it out, right?
Â
About handling aggressive defense from Niagara...Â
Not that well, I think we could have done a better job. We faced pressure in the scrimmage earlier against DePaul that I thought we did a much better job (with). But again, I give Niagara credit, they came in here trying to trap and get their hands on our ball. Sometimes, when you start playing a lot of kids and (having) different combinations. Some of the things I was disappointed (with) were just basic things that at this level you shouldn't have to say like step to meet your pass, step to it and through it, chin it. We would stand there and just go through the passing and little things like that, we are just going to have to tighten up. As coaches, we have to do a better job of making sure what securing the ball means. There's definitely some kind of open areas that we can improve on and that's what these early games are for. We have to get exposed somehow someway, it doesn't matter who does it to you. It allows us just to use that as knowledge, and now we have to work on it in practice every day.Â
Â
About Isaline Alexander and how she has been acclimating to the team...Â
We're trying to figure that out, too. There's four of them down there as I mentioned, Tai and Smitty are the most experienced and then those next two (are Isaline and Mathilda Ekh). You've seen Isa start to figure it out a little bit. My thing with freshman, especially in that position, is that you have to err on the side of playing harder and more aggressively at this level. When she got her shot blocked, I got into her a little bit, I was like "this is a whole other level, these kids are coming after you, you need to learn shot fakes, don't let anyone block your shot" kind of thing. She responded I thought, and she did a much better job. She has a big upside. We have to get her motor going, she has to learn how to play the pace and the intensity and the comparativeness at this level. I love some of the things she does naturally, her up and under, she's got pretty good hands, she can run the floor, she communicates on the floor whatever we are doing defensively, she's a good rebounder. There's a really big bright spot. But she has to learn to ramp it up. I told all of these guys the other day you have to learn to level up. It's not the same as high school, it's not the same as your summer in Canada. This is big time, and the game is eat or be eaten kind of thing, and you want to go eat. You have to roll up your sleeves and prove in the three, four, five minutes, two minutes, whatever it is, that you belong. I thought after we got on her a little bit there that she showed some things. She had 15 months there where she didn't play because Canada was completely shut down. So, I think she's just taking some time to get there, but some of that is you have to go compete, you have to level up. This is Power-5 basketball and there's another level. It requires gym-time away from practice, it requires more lifting, it requires more film watching. If you want to be a good player you have to invest in yourself and that's where things start.
Â
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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