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UConn Postgame Presser - BEQ Providence · Coaches Corner

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  Athletes, page Backers, and KK Arnold. We'll begin with an opening statement
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  from coach that won't take questions for the student athletes first so they can get
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  back to the locker room. Remind you wait for the microphone and please state
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  your name and affiliation before your question. Coach, thank you. You know,
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  one of the things that we talk about this time of the year is
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  that it's very difficult to win in March. Doesn't matter what the matchup is,
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  doesn't matter what the records are. It's just very, very difficult to
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  win in March. And you know, we you know, we pride ourselves
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  and being able to handle pretty much anything that comes along. You know,
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  you get to experience everything over the course of a season, you know,
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  those five months or whatever, you know, and then today when Aleah went
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  down and was just one more, one more you know thing that was thrown
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  at us, and I you know, the way we responded that second half
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  and how how our players performed I thought was tremendous. I think we showed
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  a lot of maturity during that stretch and a lot of a lot of toughness
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  and a lot of character because you're out there playing and you know you're not
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  coming out. That's a tough way to, you know, to play basketball,
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  know that I'm not going to get a breather no matter what. So
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  I was really, really really happy with with these guys. They I wish
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  we had a couple of days between games, but unfortunately we got to get
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  ready for Mark question for these two athletes in the front Roger page. Can
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  you just talk about that, how you guys responded and what feelings where you
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  just looked very focused after that happened, and and not only the whole the
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  whole team responded, but Ice in particular. Uh. Yeah, once Aliah
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  went down, we kind of called a huddle and we were talking about just
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  how locked in we have to be, how extra focus we're gonna have to
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  be stepping in for Aliyah who does so much for us and particularly rebounding.
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  Alia does a great job on the board, So we knew that was a
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  whole that we needed to feel. But yeah, Ice, I thought she
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  came in and grave gave great minutes just her resilience and her ability to step
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  up to the plate when we needed her when her number was called, and
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  she was really fearless in that. And I thought she rebounded well she defended
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  well. She did great things on offense, rebounding, screening, knocking in
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  shots. So just the way she responded was was honestly was really perfect.
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  But just again like everybody just was major focused and major locked in and we
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  knew we had to up it up for lea second round on the right.
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  Also for page what would like to see KK really step up in her first
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  postseason game? Yeah, it was huge. I mean she took over the
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  games, took over the game at some parts and just completely dominated, whether
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  it be offensively defensively. The pressure that she put on the ball, getting
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  in passing lanes, getting tips, steels, rebounds, So she affected a
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  game in every aspect and she completely took it over and was aggressive and along
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  while I stepped up huge when a Lee went down and was a huge reason
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  for that run. We went on question up front. Yes, high ladies
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  brought Lake w and they wish your defense sorry helped you see to eight points
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  in the last quarter and you held them do like their shooters weren't shooting well.
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  How did you limit their uh abilities? Just just communication on the defensive
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  end, really honing in on that part. You know, I say the
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  first half of you really we didn't do a bad job, but we could
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  have did better. So in the second half, we just really honing in
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  on communication and knowing where the shooters are in specific areas to limit them shots.
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  What helped us down the road in the game. So a prompt at
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  Patty can rob the Associated Press, Paige, you outscored them forty five eighteen
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  after Ali went down. When she came back from the locker room, what
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  did that mean to your team and did she say anything to you afterwards?
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  Uh? Yeah, just to see that she was okay. She was standing
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  up on both feet and having her back out there is just huge for the
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  presence of the team. But I mean we all checked on our make sure
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  she was good. I think she'll we'll know more later, but it was
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  her nose that got hit. But yeah, just to have her out there,
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  just to see that she's okay, it was huge question right here in
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  the middle. Emily Adams Hartperd current at KK. I mean we saw you
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  get a little bit fired up after a couple of those and ones and things.
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  Just what was the atmosphere like of your first postseason game? Did it
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  feel different from you know, how how the regular seasons fell for you.
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  I'll say in terms of it felt really different, just because my first Biggiest
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  tournament coming in, you know, atmosphere, crowd, everybody, and everybody
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  in tune. But I really couldn't be more grateful for this team in the
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  first game. So we have, you know, two more to go,
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  but this is just a really good atmosphere to play and then for my first
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  time, like I said, it was very exciting. Any other questions for
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  the student athletes back right? Uh kk, you were really aggressive on the
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  ball defensively, what's your mentality when you're taking that first assignment on the point,
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  Just basically not letting the ball, not let them set up the offense.
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  Really just disrupt them and don't let them, like I said, to
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  run their offense because you know that creates them getting settled in. So getting
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  that disruption helps us on the offensive end as well, pushing the ball,
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  getting to our layoffs, transition and everything. So any other questions for the
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  student athletes right, will excuse page and KK, thank you ladies, thank
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  you. Plus that one steal was huge. Questions for coach up front Pat
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  front left gin know what did you say to them after Ali went down after
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  everything you've been through this season, and uh what did you like about the
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  the response again forty five eighteen after that, Uh I, I I don't
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  know it. It's just been uh uh n numbing the for us to the
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  point where there is there really wasn't much that you could say other than you
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  know, this is this is it, this is what we've got and and
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  and we we talked a lot about some of these young guys have to grow
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  up, and they have to grow up fast, and and and and they
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  did you know, you don't know until you put in that situation what you
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  can do. Sometimes you're putting in a situation where you have no choice,
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  which I kind of you know, I kind of love that, you know,
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  because it brings out the best of you, the best in in all
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  of us, when well, somebody won't come off the bench and pick me
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  up, give me a breather. No, it's all you. It's a
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  lot, but gives you an opportunity to show what you got. Question right
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  here, he coached t Paker with the next Obviously, there's a lot of
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  legends that you could have honored as the biggiest legend, and you chose Laura
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  I'm just curious about why she was selected and what she meant for the program.
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  Well, we tried to start at the beginning. You know, this
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  is the first time they've done this, which I think is a great,
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  great thing. There certainly have been a lot of legends in this league over
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  the years, and you know, there were in my mind, there were
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  two, you know, two to choose from, and I thought Laura was
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  probably at the time the most important recruit that we that we got when I
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  first got here, and you know, she took a program I am from
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  nothing and helped us go to the final four, you know, her senior
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  year, and I just thought it was very appropriate, you know, for
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  a Connecticut kid two, you know, to be one hundred as a legend
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  first row on the left HI coach Bradley w NBA Wish. Yesterday, Doug
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  Bruno talked about how after all this time he still loved coaching. I was
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  curious if you could speak to what do you still love about coaching after almost
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  four decades at the helm uh. I like dinners after we win. I
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  like days off after we're three games in a row. I like all the
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  things that that happened when you get to enjoy some of your success and enjoy
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  time with your staff. And and it's not about the wins anymore, you
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  know, because the wins are the wins, and there's you know, if
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  you keep chasing wins, you're gonna, you know, chase the until you
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  die, you know, So you're not not chasing wins or chasing championships.
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  But hm, we got after our players pretty good at halftime, because I
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  thought we were we were trying to do two things. We were trying to
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  beat Providence and beat ourselves. You know, it's hard. It's hard to
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  beat two teams in one night and one afternoon. So we got after our
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  players pretty good at halftime, and they came out and after that initial what
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  looked like it was going to be more of the same to start the second
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  half the way, like Page said, the way we locked in. I
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  like the fact that today players found out that they've got something in them,
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  maybe that they weren't quite sure they had, and we helped them get that.
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  And to me, that's still the essence of coaching, right, being
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  able to get your players to find inside of them some things that are there,
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  but they need, you know, they need some impetus to go find
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  it. That never gets old, you know never. It's harder every year,
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  but it doesn't get old. Question from Eric in the back right,
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  do you know Ericdoretz channel and you haven kk Arnold just how dynamics she can
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  be on both ends of the floor. What will that do for you guys
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  in the postseason if she can consistently do this for you? Yeah, I
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  think that's the to me, that's the big thing. You know, Nika
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  didn't have one of her better performances today. You know, she struggled a
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  little bit and in this game. But kk is able to have that kind
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  of impact on our team. There's a there's a uh, there's an attitude
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  or there's a something about her that's somewhat infectious. It's somewhat you know,
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  gal galvanizing that when you get somebody like that that makes a big play at
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  the defensive end then comes down and makes a big play at the offensive end,
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  and you could see the entire team get lifted. You know, Hm,
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  you're always worried about your your freshmen and how they're going to behave in
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  their first time in this environment. And she she really was was tremendous today
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  in in in every facet of the game. Question on the right in the
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  back here coach Cory jobing with the Creytonian. I just had three thousand and
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  seven minutes in the first half and then came out and responded really well in
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  the second. How do you think about her response? Yeah, she's one
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  of the ones I'm talking about that she probably this most of this year treats
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  herself like, wow, you know, if I don't have it, Leo
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  will do it, and I'm just here to kind of give everybody a breather
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  and then if I'm good, I'm good. If I'm not any good,
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  that's okay. We're gonna win anyway. And when you when you think like
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  that, you get careless and you get sloppy and you don't put enough pressure
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  on yourself to get it right. And I think once Aelia got hurt,
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  I think the light went off and it's like she looked around and went there
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  is no there is no other option. I'm the only option. And you
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  know, I wish you would treat herself like that more often and play with
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  that kind of mindset. Well, certainly we're gonna need her now, depending
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  on what happens with Aleah you know, but there's a there's a learning curve
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  to playing college basketball, and certainly you're playing at Yukon, and some kids
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  get it right away and others it takes a little bit of time. And
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  I think she grew up a little bit today. Hopefully there's carryover tomorrow.
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  Roger front Row and the left Roger Cleveland from whatever Republican American Do you know
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  two things? First of all, what is the status of of oh Leah?
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  And then second we can just talk about Nika announcing today that she won't
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  be back next year. Yeah, she might have she might have forgot that
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  she's still here, and you know, we still needed three more days out
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  of her at least. But you know, I think that was always that
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  was always Nika's plan. I don't think there was ever a doubt. You
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  know, how she wants her career to end and how she wants it to
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  go, and and she has aspirations for the future, and and I think
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  it's it's the right time for her too, to go on to the next
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  thing. As far as Leah is concerned. You know, our team doctors
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  are here and they'll do some some tests afterwards. Judging by the looks of
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  it. You know, her nose looks like it's been through a fight.
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  So what that means for the rest of the tournament, I don't know.
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  We'll probably know by some time this evening for sure. Second role in the
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  middle Emily Adams Hurt for Current Page led you guys in just about every category
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  today. I mean, you've talked a lot about the pressure that she is
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  under. I guess just what allows her to rise to that time and time
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  again, especially in a high pressure situation already like this. Some players I
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  remember Diana said something like this quite recently actually, when someone asked her about
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  her ability to perform in knockout games in those pressure situations, and she made
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  a great comments She said, I don't feel any pressure. I don't feel
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  anything because I spent a lot of time preparing for these moments, so when
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  they do come for me, it's just natural. And I think Page is
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  kind of in that mold. You know, she spends a lot of time
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  preparing for these moments. She's very very much invested in in the game.
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  She not somebody that just shows up, plays and goes home. She's very
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  very invested, and she believes in herself. She has tremendous belief in herself,
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  tremendous confidence in herself, and expects to do well in these situations.
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  Just like some people expect to miss. She expects to conquer every situation.
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  And for kids you know out there watching, yes it's talent, and yes
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  it's preparation and putting the time in, but there's nothing that can replace the
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  belief that you have in yourself that you were you know, you were born
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  for this and you prepared for this moment. So we're fortunate that we have
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  because you're not going anywhere without somebody like that. You know, I remember
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  somebody saying to me one time, you know, the only time you guys
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  win is when you have guys like that. And well, I tried winning
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  without guys like that. It doesn't work. Sorry to bust anybody's bubble.
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  Any other questions for coach? Alrighty, coach, thank you, Thanks guys,
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  appreciate it. S see it m HM