	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 29, 2016

Bobbie Kelsey

Madison, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Women's Basketball Head Coach Bobbie Kelsey is here. We will have opening comments and take questions.

COACH KELSEY: Excuse my voice. Disappointed in our play yesterday against Purdue. Some kids stepped up for them that didn't do so last time, and we had folks that didn't step up for us. In the Maryland game, I thought we found some offense and obviously played the sixth best team in the country to a 6-point game.

Disappointed we wouldn't make that consistent theme in our game against Purdue, but sometimes it's not falling for you and they weren't falling for us at Purdue.

The tournament is another chance to correct some wrongs and everybody is at zero-zero, so it's an opportunity for us to go in and take it one game at a time and see what we can do.

Q. Northwestern is pretty fresh in your mind, you just faced them a couple of weeks ago, and they had one of their better games of the year. What did they do that you can't let them do this time? Other teams have been able to beat them. What do you have to do to turn that around?
COACH KELSEY: We didn't do a very good job in transition defense the last time they played us. They got lose and made some layups and also boxing out. Those were the two big areas that I noticed when I watched the game that we didn't do a very good job of. Obviously you have to do those things no matter who you are playing, and we have to be more consistent in those areas.

We didn't turn it over, but obviously when you give up easy baskets to a team that maybe, you know, you have to make them earn the baskets, then it makes it harder for you.

Q. That's one thing you did really well the first time against Northwestern was not turn the ball over, even though they lead the Big Ten in steals. What was the key, especially lately, in controlling the ball?
COACH KELSEY: I just think even though there were options, knowing what to look for in offense and making sure that we are making crisp, clean passes and ones that we can actually catch and actually finish with. We have been making it a point to make sure we don't hurt ourselves in that area because that has been a problem in the past.

Q. Do you have a voice that can last four or five days?
COACH KELSEY: Probably not. It's bad! I'm sorry. I probably sound like a 85-year old man, no offense to all the 85 year old men out there, but it's not good.

Q. There have been flashes this year from Cayla McMorris of what you thought you had as you recruited her. What does she have to do to take that up to the next level for her?
COACH KELSEY: Cayla's got to -- I mean, I've told them all, you've got to get in the gym. She has a great shot, technically a great-looking shot but, you know, you've got to sacrifice and get in there. When she does, we see the difference. I think Cayla knows that. But until it's real to them, they tend to not believe you. We've seen some flashes from her, but we need consistency from all of 'em, but her especially because she can help us more than what she has.

Q. You have a very tough schedule this year, one of the top-20 in the nation, according to some rankings. How is that going to help you as you do head into this postseason?
COACH KELSEY: Well, it should help you in that you've played some of the tougher teams, you know what you can do against those teams, most recently Maryland.

If you can put that together in a tournament style format, you never know what can happen. We've seen it over the years. That's what makes the tournaments, even the conference tournaments and obviously March Madness exciting. Anybody can beat anybody at any point, and if you believe that, then you can do it because everybody -- if you lose, you go home, no matter who you are. Your rankings don't help you at that point; nothing helps you other than making shots, and I said that yesterday in my press conference.

You have to make shots. It's the difference between a 6-point game against the 6th best team in the country and a 20-point game against Purdue. Purdue is good, but they're not 6th in the country. So if you don't make shots, we're going to have a tough time, because we don't have a lot of depth.

Q. Are you getting open shots and just missing?
COACH KELSEY: Yeah, we're getting open shots, not all of them, but ones we have made in the past, bunnies right at the basket. I don't know if it's a lack of focus or maybe somebody thinking somebody is going to come over and block it, I don't know what it is, but we're getting them. So it's not necessarily we're not running things to get people the shot. I just said, we can't get you any closer to the basket. I don't know what we can run to put you in the basket with the ball, not sure if there is a play we can where we can do that, but we're just trying to show them where they're missing opportunities, to get easier baskets.

Sometimes they are pulling up, where we can go all the way, and there are times when we just miss them, and short-arming them in the crack of the basket, things like that. You have to just take advantage of every opportunity, and when you miss those shots you make it harder for yourself.

I'm going to go get some tea and honey now. Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297