Nov. 26, 2000
Head Coach Tara VanDerveer:
I thought we looked a little tired and played hard in spurts. I thoughtwe had great guard play and Susan (King) and Nicole (Powell) reallystepped it up. The reason you win 500 games as a coach is because youhave great players, and I've had an opportunity to coach wonderful,wonderful basketball players and wonderful, wonderful people. Formerplayers were here at the game and it was great seeing them.
First win:
At Idaho, if I look back, I believe it was an overtime win. I rememberwe were up three and the other team had the ball with like 10 secondsand took a timeout and said let's play good defense and not foul. Ourteam proceeded to go out and foul and we went into overtime and Ithought, 'This is going to be a frustrating occupation.' I think we wereplaying Eastern Montana.
I've had the opportunity to coach two undefeated teams and one was myvery first team as a JV coach at Ohio State. We ran and pressed thewhole game, and I thought, 'This is easy.' Then when I was a head coachfor real, I thought, 'Whoa, it was a lot harder.' The other team wasobviously the Olympic Team. I've enjoyed coaching a lot.
Favorite win:
I think winning a national championship - the Auburn game -and againagainst Western Kentucky. Those were real special games. But actually myfavorite game to coach and watch was our Arkansas game. That was a game,and our Olympic gold medal game - it seems like in some certain games,all the stars get in alignment and you just see some beautifulbasketball. I didn't think it could feel better than that.
We did play in spurts and I think basketball is a game of spurts. We hadsome people really step up individually and I want to credit UOP, Ithought they played extremely well. They really passed the ball verywell, they shot the ball very well and we really need to play betterdefense. I think we're struggling a little bit with our offense so ourtransitions are not going.
I think Tara's right when she says basketball is a game of spurts. Thereare certain possessions when we get our defense going and then we mightnot execute as well on offense. We're definitely trying to work on that.
Being part of the win:
I'm so excited for Tara and so glad to be part of a team that was withTara when she got her 500th win. I think that's an amazingaccomplishment.
I was standing out there with less than a minute left and the wholecrowd lifted those "500" signs up. I just had the chilly feeling allover my body. It was so awesome and I'm so happy for Coach, she deservesit.
It didn't feel any different today. I was just lucky I got the looksthat I did today and that my teammates found me and got me the ball. Itwas just a good team effort and I just happened to score big today.
I think we need to work on our screening. We do have great shooters, butwe need to get them open. I think screening would definitely help thatarea.
We've been emphasizing rebounding in practice and in our games. It'sbeen one of our main focuses. I think if that's a way I can help myteam, I'm going to try harder to go to the boards. It's definitely on mymind and one of our first priorities as a team. It's not just meblocking out, it's all of our teammates doing a good job all the wayaround.
500 more:
I keep coming back to just really enjoying the game. Especially with thesituations we've had with special people like Jamie or Kristen(injuries). Enjoying the day today, not worrying about what's down theroad for the season or for the team or years from now. This is a greatplace to coach. I think we have a great tradition and what a year we canhave this year, but what a future we can have with players like Susanand Nicole and some of our young players. I think we have a lot moreweapons and we need to show those weapons. I think we've got a lot ofpeople that haven't played as well as they're capable of today or didn'tget a chance to play can really help us and that's what we're dependingon.
Freshman guards:
Looking at Nicole and Susan - they don't give you a head start forstarting freshman, they don't give you extra bonus points. As far as I'mconcerned, they play like seniors. The best thing is that they'll behere for four years. Especially with the development with Jamie(injury), it's great that Susan and Nicole have been able to step up. Ireally think that they can really show the way, they're fearless. Theycan really help with some other people who are maybe not playing asrelaxed and playing with the confidence that they need to. Susan andNicole can lead the way. I really feel that we'll be better when we havemore people contributing.
I do like our rebounding line. I'm really excited about that becausethat's something we've been emphasizing and really struggling with. Ithink Sarah really took it to heart. It's great to have seniors who whenyou say something, they listen and they try to do what you ask them todo.
I really believe we have people who can step up and knock down threesfor us. I really think they'll do it. It's just a matter of them gettingtheir confidence and we have to really look at what we're doing to helpthem get those shots.
I think that every game we play, our team has to see the importance ofscreening because we're getting nailed, and they're getting open shots.And yet, this is an area that you can only put out so many fires at atime. Our rebounding was the biggest fire and I think we've worked onthat. Our defense has improved and our offensive execution is not wherewe need it to be and I think that's a lot of my job. I'll be watchingtape tonight, I won't be partying.
We've got three freshmen quarterbacks with Susan, Nicole and KatieDenny. As they get more comfortable, and this is a huge confidencebuilder for both of them. I think our team has been a little worriedabout Nicole and Susan and taking care of that position. Now it's,'They've got their position taken care of, now let's have other peoplereally step up and do more of what they're good at.'