Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Traditions
 Q&A with Charlene Curtis.Women's basketball coach previews 1998-99 season.By Jay Reddick The women's basketball team, in Charlene Curtis' first year at the controls, finished with a 4-23 record. No one was necessarily pleased with those numbers, but the team's play on the court was no reflection of that. The way the Deacons competed at the end of the season, plus the recruiting class that has been brought in, has Curtis excited about coming back for another year. Jay Reddick of Gold Rush talked with Curtis in late October about the coming season. The following is their conversation: Gold Rush: Expectations at least within the program seem to have grown. That must have you pretty excited. Curtis: Oh yes, I'm real excited. It's the second year, and we're ahead of where we were. I know we at least have some returning players who understand my language and can anticipate some things. Gold Rush: How is the playing rotation coming together for you? Curtis: It's really early yet to get a grasp on who is going to play. I think the returning players have to have an edge, just because they know what is going on and what is expected of them. Heidi Coleman at the point, Alisha Mosley at the two, Jenn Miklic at the three, and then Olivia Dardy and Emon McMillian in the post. But some of the younger players are going to get a chance to play. We've added to our backcourt with Valerie Klopfer at the point and Adell Harris at either guard, but probably the two. The two of them will contribute for sure. Val will allow Heidi to not have to play 36 minutes a game. Heidi will be a fresher player, and in the long run, a better shooter and more productive, if she gets some rest time. Adell is a real good ballhandler. She can create in the open court and has excellent court vision. She's already made some passes that we never made last year, and we are catching them, which is exciting. Gold Rush: How much can we expect to see the other freshmen? Curtis: The three posts, Elizabeth Biedrycki, LaChina Robinson and LaTisha Pearson, are all developing. The one I'm most surprised at is LaChina; her improvement is just incredible from when we saw her in high school. We really considered her as one we might have to redshirt as a freshman because she wouldn't be ready, but she spent time in a good AAU program this summer and worked really hard. She was very receptive to learning. She's strong, has great hands, and can score down low. She blocks shots - we have somebody who can block jump shots now. People are coming down on the break and pulling up, and she's coming right out on them and blocking their shots. Elizabeth does some of the same things, but she's more quick than strong. She can get to the glass. She brings an athleticism we didn't have last year. Those two should be able to play some center for us and allow Olivia and Emon to play more 4 and maybe even some 3 if we go with a big lineup. Gold Rush: Are you expecting the team to get off to a quick start? Curtis: It's important that we get off to a quick start and learn how to win early. That hurt us last year in the conference because we didn't learn that. Even though we won four games, we didn't play well in some games, and it really hurt our confidence. By the time we got to the meat of the conference schedule, we felt like we weren't quite good enough. Gold Rush: Who has been the biggest surprise among the upperclassmen? Curtis: In the backcourt, Alisha is working harder at being a good player. Defensively, she is much improved over last year, which was one of her biggest weaknesses. She's much more confident handling the basketball, which I think will help her with her shooting. If she misses a few shots, she has other aspects of her game she can go to, which last year, she didn't feel she could contribute as much. She'll still be expected to find ways to score, but the other parts of her game have come along. Gold Rush: And with the better depth at the guards, Heidi won't have to worry about fatigue. Curtis: Right. It will be better for her. The fact she won't have to play 36 minutes, she won't have to pace herself. She can go all-out for the time she is out there without worrying about later. She got to the point where she didn't have enough left at the end of the game to knock down shots that we needed. Plus, with Alisha's improved ballhandling, and with Val and Adell added to that mix, as well as Kristen Shaffer, we can run some sets and get Heidi the basketball. We couldn't do that as well last year; she had to create her own shots. Gold Rush: Shaffer and Janae Whiteside are two backcourt returnees we haven't talked about. What are you expecting from them? Curtis: Kristen could be really productive for us in the open court. Because we're not a fast team, we're not going to get many open-court looks. So what's important for Kristen is that she learns to become a better offensive and defensive player in halfcourt sets. Janae is shooting the ball better. She had a slow start last year because of some injuries. She's in a little better condition, and has a little more confidence with the basketball. Gold Rush: What is the biggest thing you need to improve on from last year? Curtis: One big thing we needed, we improved in recruiting, and that was our size, lack of size. We've worked hard in the offseason to get stronger physically, and we've worked to become better ballhandlers - everybody. For the people returning, it was Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, Emon, Olivia, plus the perimeter players, and we had all of them working on handling, dribbling and passing. All of them got better. But what we didn't have last year was consistent scoring. When you go through a season without anyone averaging double figures, that's not good. So we have to find two or three people to take the ball to the basket consistently for us. Gold Rush: Kirkpatrick finally saw some playing time last year after missing a year with a knee injury. What do you see from her? Curtis: Brenda Mock has provided a lot of leadership for our program. She's always intense, she always works hard, and she sets a great example. In spurts, she's going to contribute. She gets overexcited about what she's doing and doesn't play as well sometimes, but she had some big games for us last year and has skills. It will be interesting to see where she fits in. Gold Rush: Is Liz Rogers another impact freshman for you? Curtis: Liz is another one of those perimeter players who will find a spot. She's hard-nosed. Her strength is getting to the basket and making a three-point play. She's good with the basketball, a good rebounder, a good finisher. Gold Rush: The media picked the Deacons last in the league again. Does that bother you? Curtis: Not really. We should be picked ninth. We didn't return any potent scorers, even though we returned most everybody, but they are still unproven. Our freshmen may be good, but they are unproven also. So we're an unproven team. But I think we can be the spoiler this year, and I think as a team, that will be our goal going into a lot of situations. When you're picked ninth, there's nowhere to go but up, and that's where we're going. It won't happen overnight, but as we continue to develop, we'll learn how to win. Gold Rush: Has it been hard for the players, knowing that this is just the first step of an ongoing process and they may not see success right away? Curtis: I talked about that with the seniors, and I want this to be the best year they've had. Will we win more games than any season they've had? I don't know. But I want them to know they've been a part of the rebirth. Can we get to the NCAA tournament this year? Yes, we can. We could knock off some ACC teams, end up fifth in the league and make the tournament. That's not an impossibility. Is it a little unrealistic? Probably. But dreams are often unrealistic. And that's where we want to go. Gold Rush: And if not this class, the younger players will see the fruits of that labor and move up the league. Curtis: They understand it's a move up. There are people in the program right now who will get to the NCAA tournament, I know that much.
|