Women's Basketball Media Day Quotes
10/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 13, 2006
- Head Coach Mike Petersen
On this year's team...
"It would be hard for me to imagine that there would be anyone younger than us. I like where we are at; we're very long and are more athletic. Our team will look really different than how we have played the past two years. We're going to have length and size all the time. Now, it's a matter of us adapting what we do offensively and defensively to fit our personnel. It's going to be an adjustment for us offensively and defensively because our personnel is very different."
"Our three-point field goal attempts will drop. Our field goal percentage will probably go up because we'll take less three-pointers. We should shoot more free throws because we'll put more foul pressure on the ball in the post."
On the players knowing him...
"It makes a difference. It helps with the returning players; they are more comfortable with you. It's not a big deal this year because we have five true freshmen. They are still trying to figure me out. I think that the group that came in is well-prepared to mentally and physically compete."
On playing in the ACC...
"Our conference is the best conference, and everyone knows that. Our conference from top to bottom it's really hard. Every kid that came here, came to compete in the ACC."
Sophomore Corinne Groves
On the team...
"We won't be as strong in shooting from the outside because we're a lot bigger this year. A lot of the plays are based around the post players. We're going to pound it inside. We're a different team, so we have to play differently. We're still quick, though, and we're still going to be a running team."
On Coach Petersen...
"He's definitely very animated. You can hear him during the game, just screaming, yelling, hollering and saying `good job'. You can always hear what he's saying. At practice he's great at picking everybody up and being very vocal."
On getting to know the new players...
"They had to come in and get ready to go. I wouldn't say it's difficult to get to know people. We've already meshed and are looking forward to start playing. We have to learn quickly. We have to learn the plays and how everybody plays quickly. Our first exhibition game is in two weeks, so we've got to know what we're doing now. We don't have time to mess up."
Sophomore Alex Tchangoue
On the upcoming season...
"We have five new freshmen this year which makes us a very young team. It's all new, everything is new. It's not a problem at all, everything's great. I'm confident about this year. I trust my coach, I trust my teammates and I trust myself."
On this year's team being different from last year's...
"Each year's different. We lost a lot of players. We get along great. Everybody on the team, especially the upperclassmen, we all have a role to play on this team which is important. We each provide a little bit of leadership. Everybody's accountable to the team. If everybody plays their role correctly, we'll be fine."
On the bigger size of this season's players...
"We're way taller this year. I guess it just goes along with the way basketball is now...bigger guards, bigger post players, bigger everything."
On playing in the ACC...
"Of course the ACC is difficult. The ACC is the best conference in the nation. But that's why we're here; we're here to compete."
