Quotes From Kansas State's Visit To Big 12 Media Day In Dallas
Oct 24, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 24, 2001
DALLAS, Texas -
Head coach Deb Patterson
Opening Statement
"I'm extremely excited about the prospects for this season. We have significantly upgraded our athleticism with our freshman recruiting class and I'm anticipating that we will be able to make some real positive improvements in our ability to win basketball games over the course of this Big 12 basketball season."
On how daunting it is to make strides in the Big 12 Conference... "Each step is a tremendous challenge and at the same time that's the best part of being a part of the Big 12. There is no easy game and there is no easy road to get better. At the same time I believe we're in a position to improve. Simply, because we have improved our basic and baseline level of athlete, competitor and player. So, I'm hopeful that one day at a time, one step at a time we can and will get better and be a better ball club."
On the playing time of the freshmen... "I think anywhere from three or four of our freshmen will play significant minutes for this ball club in the upcoming season, and any where from two to three may end up being starters for us by the time the conference season rolls around. So, we will be depending a great deal on our youth. And Kristin Rethman is the only player we will have in the gym that has had more than one year of experience. I venture to say that we will be young but we will also be better as athletes and with out skills. How that translates, I think, will be determined in a large part on our ability mentally to sustain competition night in and night out and be as tough as you need to be in this league where you are young. Because there is no question we are going to be young, but we will have the players in or on the floor who are accustom to winning, and that's a change for us as well. We have brought in just an all-around higher caliber player. I'm not going to say their any better than those we line up against, but we've been competitive with a lesser caliber of athlete, and I'm hopeful that having the higher caliber of athlete will not just make us competitive, it will make us a program that is in a position to win more games. Obviously that is the ultimate goal. We play a lot of teams close and we have beaten teams at times that have had superior athleticism and now we are beginning to amass a team that has equivalent athleticism."
On playing with less athletic players and winning... "I think that we were extremely fortunate in that Kendra Wecker was the third Kansas recruit to commit to our program. I think location to the university was important in her decision. Playing in this great league was important in her decision. Starting the recruiting process when she was an eighth grader was important in that decision. I think her buying into our vision and what this program can become and understanding the impact she could make in joining a Laurie Koehn and Nicole Ohlde and keeping Kansas talent in Kansas. So, I think all of those factors in addition to the fact that she enjoyed the team and believes in our staff. Brie Madden, Megan Mahoney, Kari Hanson (and Chelsea Domenico) made decisions to leave home and come to Kansas State, and again I would say that two of those three players were players of the year in their states. They also believe in our vision and understood the talent we had in our program with Laurie Koehn, who was not able to play last year, understood the talent we had in Nicole Ohlde and believed in their ability to build around it. And I say again to help build Kansas State into a nationally competitive program. There's a great challenge in that and a great opportunity as well. I think these young players believe in themselves and saw an opportunity to play. I think an opportunity for great experience in your career is very valuable and beneficial. I think they were also excited about the prospect of playing early in their careers."
On Brie Madden... "Brie is a very good athlete who is agile, a competitor, and a very unconventional scorer. She brings a unique dimension because she unconventional, and I like that. I like her ability to separate from her defender. I like her ability to hang in the air and change a shot, and she's got great touch. So, as she learns to become a more physical player on both ends of the floor and handles the physical nature of the game, I think she will be a young person that helps us through the course of our conference season. She can run the floor and I think all of those attributes that are going to help make the game easier for us."
On whether Brie Madden will be in the mix for playing time... "There is no question in my mind that if she continues to improve and work at the level she is, she will play minutes in our Big 12 season. How many remains to be seen. But I believe she is of the caliber that she will be a contributor."
On the influence of the WNBA's Jackie Stiles on keeping Kansas kids in Kansas... "Jackie Stiles was the first Kansas recruit we pursued and we had about five months to pursue her and that wasn't obviously enough. But at the same time we recruited Jackie from Claflin, we hear from people from that area of the state about Laurie Koehn and that certainly intrigued and piqued our interested immediately and gave validity to the fact that a player from the middle of Kansas, in a very small school can be a great talent. And as soon as we took a look at Laurie Koehn it was verified. So, I think Jackie did open that door because by in large Kansas has not produced a multitude of players. Now it has produced some very good ones, the Lynette Woodard career and the Jackie Stiles and now the Koehn, and the Wecker and the Ohlde. We will always seek out any young talent in Kansas. We understand the possibility of becoming great even when you are not in a metropolitan area. Jackie, I think, proved that, but she may have also been one of the reasons we jumped on a Laurie Koehn early because we understood that Jackie Stiles was there in a town of 200 people."
On Laurie Koehn's status... "Laurie Koehn is not yet 100 percent full go. We believe she is very close to be being back at practice and integrating herself into the competitive routine. When I say very close, we're thinking three to four weeks at this point and we are very hopeful and very optimistic that that will happen."
On Laurie Koehn being integrated into practice... "She will be. She is not integrated in at this point in time. She is still in a period of rehab, but we feel like she is very close to being ready. In this picture, I would say we are all choosing to error on the side of caution at this point."
On comparing Kansas State to Colorado of two years ago... "I'm very hopefully that we will be...that young talented team that has a great deal of chemistry, competitiveness and great work ethic and the ability to sustain itself over the rough spots. I appreciate that example that that Colorado team can be to our young ball club. Certainly the success that they had last year is what is possible."
On Chelsea Domenico's role this year... "Chelsea is going to have a role in our program this year. She is having some problems with her wrist right now that has kept her out of practice the last 10 days or so, and she will probably be out at least another week. So she will be a little behind the curve because of that injury, but she looked very good in our early season individual workouts. I'm impressed by her mind for the game and I definitely believe Chelsea will play and help us at that point position during the course of the season."
On Chelsea Domenico's injury being a sprained wrist... "No, it's more a tendon issue that she's dealing with."
On K-State's style of play with increased athleticism... "I believe we will be able to open the floor and extend the floor. Certainly our style will change because we have players in the gym who can make plays and who have the ability to read a defender and beat the defender. So if you were an observer of our program I could best characterize it by saying, it will be a much freer and freelance style of basketball than it has been. I believe we will be able to run the floor and get easy baskets at a higher level, and defensively I do hope we will be more creative and extend the floor, not simply for the purpose of taking seconds off the clock, but with the thought of being aggressive and creating steals."
Senior Kristin Rethman
On playing on the Big 12 Tour and being a member of the 'All-Underrated Team'... "The tour was definitely an experience of a lifetime. It was a great trip. We got a chance to see some beautiful country and play some basketball. We won all five games and that was kind of our main goal but we still managed to have a pretty good time too."You really don't find out (about the award) until after the season. Any award that you get is an extension of the team because you aren't out there by yourself. You have to have four other players out there with you."
On recruiting in this league and the newcomers... "You can tell a player as much as you want and hope to get them ready, but they won't really know until they play. I have all the confidence in the world in the players that we have in the gym right now. They come to practice every day ready to learn and work hard. They compete and play hard, so that is exciting and I think they will be fine."
On playing with the top teams in the Big 12... "I think we have the all the making there to surprise some people. I was talking to one of our freshmen before and she kind of said it was okay to be a freshman because people really don't know what to expect. We just go out and play hard every day. So I think in terms of that it's a no-fear mentality. They just come to play."
On which of the freshmen has impressed her most... "They are all pretty good. Kendra Wecker is obviously an all-around amazing athlete. She can run the floor, she jumps well, she's strong and she can shoot from the outside and still finish strong at the basket. Megan Mahoney is real active around the ball, both on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor."
On the improvement of sophomore Nicole Ohlde... "I think Ohlde got a lot stronger this summer. She worked hard in the weight room. She's always working on her game. I think she worked on some outside shooting this year just to make her game more versatile. The more threats we have helps out our entire team."
On the chemistry of this year's team... "The chemistry of this group is great. We are a pretty tight nit group, but I think we have always had that my four years I've been here. Our groups have been pretty good. Our talent level has definitely raised. Athleticism is much higher and everybody just comes in ready to compete and play hard. That is just going to be very beneficial to us this year."
