ChicagoGG
Windy City Kitty
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Sorry I am a lousy linker, but here is an excerpt from the Tina Charles Blog on ESPNW in the Tournament Blogger section. It was posted on March 11 as "Preparation helped us win it all."
May the baskeball gods remind the team of this every day, all the way, right thru NOLA!
Quote: "Coach Geno Auriemma and the rest of the staff did a great job of tapping into each player -- from the first five on the court to the last player off the bench -- letting us know we were depended on for every game and practice. We went into every game believing that if we did not perform to the best of our ability, if we missed a defensive rotation, did not box out our man, or not take every possession seriously, that we could lose the game.
We practiced and played in every game with that mentality. In every practice, Coach Auriemma would put us in the most difficult game situations because he wanted us ready for anything that could happen. There were times in practice when we would be down five points against our practice players with a minute on the clock and we would have to continuously figure out how to score and get stops on the defensive end. Many times during those practices, I thought, "Why are we doing this all the time?" But Coach had a way of knowing to always expect the unexpected in all circumstances.
We were playing Stanford, and the entire first half everything that could go wrong did! We were missing shots, not executing plays, and missing defensive rotations. At halftime we were losing, and I won’t forget a Stanford player running toward their locker room shouting, "One more half!"
As much as we were disappointed in our effort in the first half, Coach Auriemma reminded us at halftime that we have been in this situation before many times in practice. Going into the second half, our main focus was our defensive effort. We knew if we continued to get stops and pushed the ball up the court as many times as we could, we had a chance of turning the game around. We did just that, and it was the best team win I have had in my basketball career. "
Unquote
May the baskeball gods remind the team of this every day, all the way, right thru NOLA!
Quote: "Coach Geno Auriemma and the rest of the staff did a great job of tapping into each player -- from the first five on the court to the last player off the bench -- letting us know we were depended on for every game and practice. We went into every game believing that if we did not perform to the best of our ability, if we missed a defensive rotation, did not box out our man, or not take every possession seriously, that we could lose the game.
We practiced and played in every game with that mentality. In every practice, Coach Auriemma would put us in the most difficult game situations because he wanted us ready for anything that could happen. There were times in practice when we would be down five points against our practice players with a minute on the clock and we would have to continuously figure out how to score and get stops on the defensive end. Many times during those practices, I thought, "Why are we doing this all the time?" But Coach had a way of knowing to always expect the unexpected in all circumstances.
We were playing Stanford, and the entire first half everything that could go wrong did! We were missing shots, not executing plays, and missing defensive rotations. At halftime we were losing, and I won’t forget a Stanford player running toward their locker room shouting, "One more half!"
As much as we were disappointed in our effort in the first half, Coach Auriemma reminded us at halftime that we have been in this situation before many times in practice. Going into the second half, our main focus was our defensive effort. We knew if we continued to get stops and pushed the ball up the court as many times as we could, we had a chance of turning the game around. We did just that, and it was the best team win I have had in my basketball career. "
Unquote
