The UK Hoops team plays Notre Dame this Sunday and Coach Mitchell wants to pack Memorial Coliseum. This is a huge early season matchup for the #9 team in the nation. Coach Mitchell answered questions about the upcoming matchup.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
[QUOTE]
Coach [URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/mitchell_matthew00.html”]Matthew Mitchell[/URL] Pre-Notre Dame Press Conference
[I]Opening statement … [/I]
“We have a tremendous opportunity in front of us on Sunday to find out where our basketball team is and where we have progressed to this point. This clearly will be our biggest challenge so far. Notre Dame has a very fine program and very good team this year. For us to go up against them at this time of the year will tell us a lot about where we are. We are looking forward to it. We would love to have a big crowd and have Memorial Coliseum rocking on Sunday afternoon. I think that could help us in the tremendous test we’re going to face.”
[I]On [URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/drake_samantha00.html”]Samantha Drake[/URL] and Keyla Snowden ’s injuries …[/I]
“Both of them are day-to-day. We will see what happens in practice but I don’t think Samantha Drake will practice today. It was very good news with both of their MRI’s because there was no ligament damage on either of them and so now it’s just when they can tolerate the pain. It will be a process. It will be day-to-day on both of those kids. A patella bruise was the official medical diagnosis on Samantha’s injury.”
[I]On the offense being a focus in practice this week …[/I]
[I]“[/I]It has been a focus this week. We made a lot of progress, but not as much as I had wanted. And that’s just where we are right now. As we go into this game we really need to focus on what we are capable of doing and I really don’t know if offensively we are at the point where we can really out-execute somebody, so I don’t know how that is going to play out in the game on Sunday. We have made progress though. It just moves so much slower with half of your available players being freshmen. They are all really good players and they all contribute and so it’s not like you can put a few off to the side and get ready for the game. You are preparing everyone for the game. If it comes down to offensive execution on Sunday, I don’t know where we will be with that. We need to really hustle and really fight hard. I know our players will do that because they’ve done great with that all week. Hopefully the game is more about that than real solid execution because I think Notre Dame would clearly have the advantage with their experience.”
[I]On Notre Dame’s offense …[/I]
“They present such a challenge because they not only have experience at the point guard position, but a high level of talent. Skylar Diggins is a world-class athlete. I don’t know where she is in all the rankings and things like that, all I know is when I put on the film of her, she jumps out at you. Everybody in the country recruited her; everybody wanted her to come play for them. She was the crème of the crop for her year coming out of high school. She had a great freshman year and so they have a high level of talent at point guard. They can score, they can get people involved, and they can defend so that starts our concern because she can really run her team. Also, there is a lot of talent out there. They have good shooting, good size and good execution. They run their stuff through two games a lot better than Kentucky runs their stuff to this point. So, yes there is a big concern and our biggest challenge yet. We will have to play really well to beat Notre Dame.”
[I]On Maegan Conwright’s versatility …[/I]
“She has been very valuable. You have the possibility of going in to this game against a highly ranked opponent possibly missing two starters and you still feel like you have a chance. That is a credit to our players and how hard they have worked and how hard they have prepared. I don’t know how things will turn out on Sunday, but I know that the kids are going to go in there and fight hard, and Maegan is a great example. Maegan is a great example because she is going to play hard and maybe get some steals and maybe get a few rebounds and I know she is going to go to the bucket.”
[I]On Coach Mitchell’s recruiting targets …[/I]
“We love that a kid can play almost every position. We love that. For whatever reason, our first two or three recruiting classes, the kids that were drawn to Kentucky were that type of player. Even the taller players are versatile. It helps that kids like Maegan, who are so strong and quick, can get in there and fight in the post. If you get switched off or something like that, you can at least have a chance. Our two and our three (positions) are so interchangeable. Everybody gets multiple reps.”
[I]On if players who can play multiple positions thrive in this system …[/I]
“I had very traditional view on recruiting when I got here four years ago. I wanted to sign a great five, I wanted to sign a great four and I had the list out and all these things. That’s the approach we were taking. For whatever reason, we were lacking some passion in different places so my idea of who we wanted here started to evolve. This is a great place to come play basketball and it’s a great school, great university and I just want people that want to come to Kentucky and then we’ll figure the rest out. We’ll figure out what position you play and we’ll figure out what were going to do. That’s sort of what happened with a couple of those classes. Now we’ve created a style out of having those type of players and so now we are looking for kids that can swing and play different positions.”
[I]On how the series with Notre Dame come about …[/I]
“There are two things. We want to play games like this at Kentucky. We want to play early season matchups like this. Hopefully we’re highly ranked and hopefully the other team is highly ranked. People that follow women’s basketball will be interested in this game on Sunday and that’s a good thing. Another thing is Coach McGraw who I have tremendous respect for, a Hall of Fame coach, wanted to bring Natalie Novosel back to Lexington. While my feelings were hurt that Natalie chose not to come to Kentucky, that’s how much I thought of her in the recruiting process that we would welcome that if we can do that for Natalie Novosel.”
[/QUOTE]
[URL=”http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/111910aaa.html”]Click here for more gameday information.[/URL]
