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PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 11, 2011Tad BoyleAfure JemerigbeLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA UCLA – 63 THE MODERATOR: We've got the California Golden Bears. Coach, opening statements? COACH BOYLE: Just a lot of credit to UCLA. I think Nikki's got them in a great place just really playing hard and getting ready for a championship game, and probably a really good run in the NCAA Tournament. For us, I thought we had a really good two games coming in. Today, just disappointed with our effort, and just trying to get our team to compete. It kind of tells the story of our season how we'll compete and then we shut it down. Just how to compete day-in and day-out for 40 minutes. I think we have to learn how to become that team. Q. It seemed UCLA's press and trapping defense really enabled them to get out to that early lead. Was that accurate the way the game started for you getting down 11-1 and tough to proceed from that point? COACH BOYLE: Yeah, I think getting down. We talked about the press break, and people breaking it with confidence. People wanted to be a part of the press break, and sometimes we had people hide and not flash big. We'll break a press, and then we just hand the ball to Layshia and expect her to run a play instead of everybody participating in the runs that you can have. That's what I'm talking about. It's like everybody's got to want to be a part of that. I think we struggled there. We struggled on the boards. We struggled to make lay-ups. I mean, our confidence was shook. We're not going to get better looks than right-handed lay-ups, so we've got to be able to finish. Other people have to be able to put the ball in the basket for us. I just feel like we played tentative at times and that press got us rattled. We took the ball down the sidelines way too much trying to keep it in the middle of the floor. Q. It has been sort of a season long issue for you. How frustrating is it that you have some talented players, but to be able to get them to play hard all the time and after 30 games when you're still not doing that, it must be maddening for a coach. COACH BOYLE: It's my biggest frustration. You know, we have some youth. But the youth that we have other than the freshmen, they've played a lot of minutes. They've played a lot of minutes. So to understand that to be a championship team you've got to wear that jersey with pride. You've got to walk into practice every day and compete. You've got to have a passion for your sport. You have to look at it as an opportunity that a lot of people don't have. You've got to value the fact that you've been given the opportunity. We're not always on the same page with that. I think that's my biggest frustration is just wanting this team to die for what they've been given and to earn it and to work for it and to appreciate it. That is the biggest frustration as a coach, and I would say probably any coach feels that way that kind of goes on a roller coaster. Q. There seemed to me to be a lot of hustle plays going on out there. I'm wondering if, Afure, you could talk about what it feels like to be in the face of that constant? I mean, some teams will press for a minute or two minutes, usually when it's too late in the game. But the constant persistent press, was it befuddling? AFURE JEMERIGBE: Yeah, it was tough. It forces you to, like Coach B. said, flash and get open, constantly working to be available for your teammates. I felt like we were just not poised and we hid behind a lot of the UCLA players and forced Layshia to handle the ball the whole time. It's tough. I think that's where we lacked a lot. Q. Stanford beat UCLA by 14 a couple weeks ago without Nnemkadi. How do you see the final game shaping up? Do you think UCLA has any shot at them? What are they going to have do to keep that game close? COACH BOYLE: Oh, yeah, when you get to a championship game it's anybody's game. They're completely different teams two completely different styles. Obviously, UCLA's offense is even much better at this time of the year than it was at the beginning of the year. So I think they have a great defense, and people can knock down shots for them. How aggressive can they be? How poised can Stanford stay, which they have been over the course of the year? Who can make baskets? Just contrasting styles. But I think it's a great match-up between two great teams. I wouldn't give the edge to anybody. I just think that adding Nnemkadi to the mix is huge for them. Stanford's been here many times. They know what a championship atmosphere is like, and I think Nikki's done a great job preparing her team throughout the season with the schedule that she's played and the games that she's won, to earn the right to be there and compete for it. Q. This third game in three days, is fatigue an issue at all? COACH BOYLE: I didn't see my team as tired. I can tell when my team's tired. I think it was how we started the game and just kind of like we got punched in the head a little bit and then just deflated. We didn't respond to it. When it comes easy, we're good. When it doesn't come easy, that's when we have to find that next whatever it is, the "it" factor that teams have, we need to find the "it" factor when it's tough. Q. Could you talk about which teams you think from the women's side should be coming out into the NCAA and where you believe they should be seeded? COACH BOYLE: I don't know about the seeding. I haven't looked at the brackets like that, but I definitely think Stanford and UCLA. But I do think Arizona State's earned a bid. USC's had a great run down the stretch here. I know they lost yesterday, but they've played a really good schedule as well. I think they've at least got to be on the table for some conversation. I think Charlie did a great job this year. I think she won 7 much her last 9 if I'm not mistaken. Going into the tournament we've always played competitive, so it's always been so close that I would hate for the committee to look at that as a reason to keep them out. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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