Murray State University Athletics
Adams Addresses Nov. 19 Media Conference
11/19/2007 6:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Murray State women's basketball head coach Jody Adams addressed the weekly press conference today, discussing the previous week's action and the upcoming tournament in Chattanooga.
Q: Talk a little about Saturday night's win over Alabama State.
A: Our guards continue to be consistent. Looking back at the film, we touched base on a few game goals with deflections, steals and forced turnovers, which we were able to follow through with after a slow start. For whatever reason, it took us a couple of possessions to get it into gear. I think that, once the first timeout was called (with 18:11 left in the first half with MSU trailing 6-0), they got a clear understanding that it was time to get going. Going into a weekend like we have coming up, a slow start like that could put you in a hole that you would not come out of. It's probably one of the best non-conference tournaments in the pre-season, starting off with UTC. But, I was very proud of the team as a whole. A lot of people got a lot of minutes, which is very beneficial for us in the long run. For the most part, I was very pleased.
Q: The UTC tournament is close to your old stomping grounds (Adams' hometown is Cleveland, Tenn.). Are you excited about that?
A: Yeah, I'm always excited to go back home. I think we have a huge challenge in front of us, playing the likes of UTC, who has done a great job in their conference. I've been around the UTC program, growing up in that area. They have done a fantastic job of consistently being at the top. I'm looking forward to going back to that area and taking our team down where I grew up.
Q: This is a strange tournament. Usually, there's a "bunny" or "cupcake" team, but this is unbelievable, where all four teams are very, very good. (Last season's records for the participating teams: Louisville 27-8, Delaware 26-6, Tennessee-Chattanooga 25-8, MSU 21-10.)
A: Yes. When you look at where everybody is in their conference, they were all among the tops. Delaware and Louisville and UTC all speak for themselves. It will be a battle. We're preparing for UTC and not even looking past that at this point. These next few days of practice are very important for this team. We've really hit hard on that, not just offensively. Offensively, of course, we've been putting up a lot of numbers, but more so defensively. That's been our focus. Two-and-a-half hours of defense today.
Q: How do you match up with UTC?
A: I think you're looking at two different teams. I think they half both, the interior and exterior talents. Their ability to shoot the three ball -- I think they put up 34 threes against Clemson -- they're going to put the three ball up. They can shoot the three, which extends you out, opens up the paint, they put it inside. It's a very talented group, a well-rounded group. I don't know about the depth of their team, but I they are a very, very good team.
Q: How about playing on back-to-back nights? Is that something that's very good for your team?
A: It's something you have to do in post-season, but we have to look at first things first. I think that everything in the non-conference season is a building block for us as we enter the OVC in December. It's so important that this team begins to move forward and progresses daily. I think that, as they hear us talk about that as a staff, they begin to understand that you can't take a day off. For the most part, they have it, and they'll probably have some different things to focus on as individuals: role players vs. people who are expected to do certain things. I'm asking them to adapt to their roles and to star in their role.
Q: Tell us a little about your signees.
A: We had three sign for us. Rachael Isom out of Cleveland, Tenn., my hometown, went to Cleveland High School. Rachael is a really special kid. It was between us and Harvard. She's not only going to represent our women's basketball team, but she will represent the university. She is someone who can go abroad and do some pretty neat things for Murray State. Mallory Schwab is out of Martinsville, Ind., near Indianapolis. She's an Indiana kid, Indiana basketball. She's a guard who can shoot the ball. She gets it; she understands the game. I think she'll be great in the OVC. I think she's a hard-nosed kid. She'll understand how to score in our game plan. She's a hard worker. Jana Roney, another Tennessee kid, from Union City. Her sister, Jenna, plays at Bethel. She didn't play the other night when we played them. Jana's probably one of the toughest kids I have ever seen play the game. There's a girl out of Milan, Chantel Poston, who is going to Purdue, and Chantel hates playing against Jana. They just played each other the other night. She just gets it done. You want her on your team; you don't want to play against her. She makes you play ugly. She's kind of a forward. She can play that 3- or 4-spot (small forward or power forward). She can step out, put it on the floor. She's just a tough kid, and I like that. We need that. We need to add the toughness. We'll sign late. We'll probably sign two or three, depending on if we get the right person. We won't sign just to sign. We'll go find players to make our program stronger. I think the three that we signed are very, very good players, very solid not just athletically, but academically.
Q: The kids that you'll be looking at in the spring: are they junior college kids or high school kids?
A: Both. We'll be looking more so for that 4 or 5 position. The 4 and 5 in our system -- there is no difference for us. I think we're different from the men's game. In my philosophy, I could take an athletic 5-10 forward and make them do very well in our system, as long as they're tough and they work hard. It's because of the offense that we run. Everybody faces the basket. It's unique this year because I have Pam Bell, and I have Angela Brown. Those are two kids who are best around the paint. If you look at what we did at Southern Illinois, Carlai Moore, the young lady on my staff, is 5-10. She was our 5-player (center or post). The other young lady who worked the 4-spot for us was 5-9-1/2, and that's what we won the Missouri Valley Conference with. It's fitting kids into the system. If you have a 6-3 kid who's not physical, doesn't play hard, a 5-10 kid's going to outwork her. It's just worked well. It's not necessarily something that I look to do all the time, but will I take a 6-foot kid who can play the 4 or 5? Yeah.
