Women's Basketball Lisa Stone Addresses the Media
December 11, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Badger women's basketball coach Lisa Stone talked with the media at the regular Monday news conference about the upcoming games on Wednesday at UW-Green Bay, and Friday at home with Harvard University.
QUESTION #1: Lisa, I was talking to Kevin Borseth this morning and he said this is the best Wisconsin team he's seen in his tenure at Green Bay. What do you think of that'
LISA STONE: I think that is because Kevin and I used to work basketball camps about 35 years ago together and we're good friends. But that's a great compliment from somebody I respect a great deal. He's got a very nice team as well, and they 've beaten some great times, including a couple Big Ten teams. I watched the DePaul game. That was a fascinating game to watch. And he's got it going. They play really well.They're very well coached and very disciplined.
QUESTION #2: Lisa, I'm sure you're happy with your team's play of late, but you've really only played a couple real close games so far this season. Does that make you nervous with a team like Green Bay or the Big Ten season coming up'
STONE: I like the fact that our young team is growing. I think somebody used the word evolving yesterday, and I really truly agree with that. I think our team has gotten a lot of people on the floor for some experience. They're excited about this match-up on Wednesday. It should be a great environment, two very, very good teams going at it.
And I like the fact that our young players are growing. I've met with nearly half of our team, seven players already this morning, and they're excited about the fact that we know we have room to grow, we have room to improve on, but they're competitors. They want to win.
You ask any of the players on our team what they want most out of the season, and the answer is they want to win. And I've seen the look on their face in a close game, and I've seen their focus, and again, some problems in routes, yet I do like what we've seen out of our players. And they continue to grow, get better, and mature. A lot of young people are playing a lot of minutes.
QUESTION #3: Green Bay held Iowa to 4-of-24 shooting in the first half last week. Can you talk a little bit about their defense and other strengths that you see'
STONE: Well, I think they go on Berglin. That's my whole thought watching them on film. Natalie is a great player, a great lefty, good shooter. All of their players can shoot the ball. That's what Kevin recruits; players that can shoot the basketball, and they all can shoot it, including Soulis on the inside can step out and shoot threes. They've got a nice group of players.
As you look at them defensively, they'll mix it up. They've played zone. They've played man. They've also faced both of those defenses in the past. They can put a little bit of pressure on. I do not have the Iowa film, so I 've not seen that one, but they just play hard on both sides of the ball. It 's not just offense. It's not just defense. They play very, very hard. They're fundamental. They're relentless, and they won't quit. They'll play for 40 solid minutes.
QUESTION #4: I know you've played man to man and your match-up zone. How do you figure you'll adjust, or will you stay with one ' What are your plans defensively'
STONE: I think you'll see a combination of all of our defenses come out. We 'll have to. You want to keep them a little off balance. And defensively, it is a defensive battle for us. It may be defense against offense. And I like the fact that our defense has continued to grow. It has its errors as well. And from the Kansas game, which was our best defensive game, to the UIC game, where we didn't have the energy defensively to we took a step forward yesterday.
But Green Bay poses a lot of problems, from the standpoint of offensively they can drive, they can shoot, they drive, dish. They play very, very well together. They're senior-laden and they've got some great players. But the bottom line is that defensively we will adjust as the game goes on, and you'll see different looks from us.
QUESTION #5: How do you assess your 3-point defense so far ' I think it's 29 percent. Where do you like to have that '
STONE: Well, I think, and ironically, I was talking to Jolene Anderson about this. I think you look at teams that shoot like 33 percent from three. That's not a bad percentage really. And as you look at our defensive goal of under 30, that's really where we want to shoot for. We want to have our defensive goal from the 3-point line be under 30 percent. And we're getting out to shooters.
When you recognize and you analyze personnel from each team, if they are a catch-and-shoot type of team or they're a player that's prolific from 3-point range, you want to be at their feet when they catch the ball and make them put it on the floor. Likewise if they're a driver, obviously give them a step. So an adjustment and understanding of personnel on each team that we play I think has allowed us to keep that defensive average where it is.
QUESTION #6: Can you talk a little bit about this rivalry' Your teams didn't play last season. You've won two, and they won two before you came here. I know they're coming to Madison next year to play, but what are your thoughts' I mean, these teams have matched up pretty well.
STONE: It's a great game. It's just a great game. And I think you 'll see us hopefully playing Green Bay every year from here on out. I think the fact that it's just a good rivalry. Kevin and I are good friends, and the teams play hard. They bring out your best. Green Bay will bring out our best, and I hope that we bring out their best. It sets the stage for, in my mind, what's reminiscent of our men's game the other night with Marquette.
QUESTION #7: Jolene has received a lot of honors, but being named the pre-season Naismith Trophy candidate, that's pretty special.
STONE: I just found that out just a second ago. I think it's awesome. The way she played last night, she certainly is very deserving of that. I thought she had a tremendous afternoon yesterday and got her feet set, cut hard, worked very hard. Defensively, she 's one of our best. She leads us in every category, minutes played, and she 's healthy. And boy, the way she moved yesterday, she played as one of those top 50. We're proud of her.
QUESTION #8: And with the honors that she's received, sometimes do you think Janese Banks kind of slides under the radar, because she 's a pretty good player too'
STONE: Yes, she certainly is. And I think the fact when you look at Jolene and the recognition she has and, you know, coming in and having all the pressures from coming from this small town down to Madison, and ends up being Freshman of the Year and USA Basketball gold medalist three times and this, that and the other, I think sometimes she goes under the radar.
And as our team is successful, more notoriety goes to Jolene and the rest of our team. Janese was honored as a Big Ten Player of the Week. That hasn't happened in a long time here. So I think you're seeing some great players on our team surrounding, obviously, a player that's gotten national recognition. And we will continue to bring the rest of them along and have them join the party.
QUESTION #9: Have you told the underclassmen, your newcomers, about this rivalry' I mean, obviously Janese and Jolene and Danielle know about this. But have you told them about this' And is it safe to say also that this is probably going to be one of your toughest foes so far this season '
STONE: Certainly. I think that the depth that Green Bay has puts them in that category, Tammy, I really do. I think the fact that our freshmen are freshmen and they don't know any better. You heard Janese talk about our team after the game and how the freshmen are always so happy and every game is a big game for them. And I like that. I'm not going to make any more of it. I don't want them to freak out or anything like that.
I want our team prepared, very confident, very focused on the game plan. And understanding the personnel is going to be key to this game. And our young players, they know about, they know it's Green Bay. I mean, you look at Rae Lin, who grew up not too far from there, and she's going into, knows the Resch Center. And our players are familiar with the fact that we have Green Bay on the schedule and they're a very, very good team and probably the deepest team we've played yet and one of the most talented.
QUESTION #10: I just want to go back to what you said a little bit ago. So are you committed to playing Green Bay every year then and every, are you going to play all three schools . . .
STONE: We're looking into all three in the future, honestly. I've not made that public, and I suppose it is now. But we're looking at that. If that works into the schedule, I'd like to do that. I think Bo does it, and I echo his sentiments on how I think that's certainly very, very good to do in a state. And having been in the state for 12 years prior to coming to Wisconsin, I think it's healthy.
We'll look into it. A lot of it has to do with scheduling. And now with their conference and our conference and the early starts, and, you know, if you're invited to a pre-season game, a lot of it, we always look into it, but a lot of it has to do with whether it fits in your schedule. But I'm a fan and proponent of it.
QUESTION #11: Janese was talking yesterday about she has to improve her ball handling. What does she need to do' Is it more actual dribbling of the ball, or is it decision-making, or what . . .
STONE: It's decision-making. She just gets going a little bit too fast. And she 's well aware of it, Jon, as I am, and we talk a lot about it. Her assist-to-turnover ratio is not where it needs to be, and she's aware of that. She leads us in turnovers and is very conscious of that. Right now we've got to cut her turnovers down and take much better care of the basketball.
A lot of it comes on moving her pivot foot when she catches the ball. She catches and she shuffles her feet, and that's where it comes from. Many of them are traveling, and again, that's positioning and catching and triple threat. And again, those are things that, they're fundamentals that we continue to work on on a daily basis.
QUESTION #12: Lisa, what kinds of things give you confidence that this 10-1 start is maybe better than, you know, the last few years ' You know, maturity, point guard, play, what kind of things make you feel good about your team at this point'
STONE: Well, certainly depth and the opportunity to rotate different people. We can pose different looks. If we start big with Caitlin and Danielle and bring in Mariah for one of our 6-4 post players, it gives a different look. Mariah Dunham is shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. She can stretch defenses out. They're going to have to guard her out there. She's one of our best 3-point shooters as a post player. It gives a different look.
You bring in Teah Gant maybe for Janese Banks, gives us a different look offensively, gets to the rim really well. We have two point guards that we're rotating. I think the key ingredient is depth. Again, we don't have any seniors, and the fact that this team wants to win and they're finding some success early hopefully builds some confidence and the experience that they're getting now helps us continue to grow.
QUESTION #13: So you're listing off a lot of positives, but saying there's still room to grow for this team. With this being finals time, what grade then would you hand out for your team through roughly the first third of the season or so'
STONE: You're going to have me grade them right now. Okay. Well, you know, again, I think I'm going to give them an A for effort certainly. I'd say we 're in the A-B range as far as we want to be. I think defensively we're probably an A-B. Offensively, we're probably about a B-plus. I'm pleased with them. They're young. They're fantastic. Whatever we emphasize, they do. Turnovers right now have plagued us in the last few games, and that's something we need to attest to.
But I'm also happy to say that on Friday then we have the week to prepare for finals. We don't have a game after finals week. We've done that in the past, and I think our players will need that break. They need that break to study for finals and just a physical break on their bodies before we come back for Big Ten.
QUESTION #14: There's been some references made this pre-season or non-conference season to Janese's maturity. What has changed this year from last year' What is the, what are we talking about with maturity' Is it on the court, or is it off the court'
STONE: Janese' Well, I think the fact that as a junior, again with no seniors, you're nominated as a captain and as a leader and someone that's held responsible to, 1) raise your game athletically, and 2) raise your game in leadership off the court. So I think it comes in both areas. Janese worked on her outside shot. Obviously she's still got some work to do in taking care of turnovers.
But off the court has been a tremendous leader for us, and that's maturity, because you have to take on some responsibility. You might not have time to help somebody go get their books in the summer because you have to do your own, take care of your own stuff, but she sacrificed that and really reached out to the younger players and blended well. I mean, she said it best the other day. She believes that our younger players have made the upperclassmen closer, and I certainly believe that as well.
