March 30, 2025 • 30 mins
Coach Auriemma, Paige Bueckers & Azzi Fudd meet the media ahead of Monday's Elite 8 game v USC
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. We welcome Yukon head coach Gino Oriema to
the stage and we will just roll right into questions
for coach.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning, Gino. Joe's one from Channel three Hartford. There's
a lot of talk about it and join the mission
the journey. But how do you do that when everything
here is about what's next?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Well, yeah, that's the that's the balance that you have
to have to be in the moment. You know, understanding
what the moment means. And if you get a little
bit ahead of yourself and start thinking about what comes after,
(00:48):
then then you're going to struggle in the moment that
you're in. So same as actually doing a game. You know,
you you try to win every possession and you don't
think about the outcome of the game. It's not a
lot easier said than done. But you know, I think
being a little bit more mature, I think does help
(01:10):
you do that.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Emily Adams hert for Current.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
Yeah, you saw this team in the lead a last year,
you saw them in the regular season.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
How different do they look right now? Missing Juju? But
also just compared to the team that you saw in
the tournament last year?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Well, going going into the tournament, based on this season.
I think they they grew from the experience that they
had last season, from the season and our game. I
think they grew from that and you could see it.
I think the the pieces that they added their young
(02:01):
players certainly changed the makeup of the team. And that
was really evident yesterday obviously. And yeah, you know, we
we saw firsthand what it's like to play without someone
(02:22):
who means so much to your team. You know, we
haven't been immune to a lot of that stuff over
the years.
Speaker 6 (02:31):
And.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
At this time of the year, as you saw last night,
someone has to you know, someone has to step up
and do all the heavy lifting, and that you know,
normally would be you know, somebody like Juju. But if
you have enough good people around around her, which they do,
(03:00):
they will get a chance to stand out even more
than they would have ordinarily, so that could compensate for it. So, yeah,
they are a different team in a positive way, and
they're a different team in a negative way because it
would happen.
Speaker 7 (03:26):
Alexa philip O ESPN speaking of the kind of supporting
cast around Juju with Kiki Irriff, and she was obviously
a star in her own right at Stanford and then
now at USC, how does she like them playing wanting
to play through her a little bit more kind of
change what you guys have to do, and how do
you guys look to kind of flow her down.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Maybe it changes how they look in that she gets
more more touches than maybe she would. But I thought
in the first game when we played them in Hartford,
I thought she was one of the big differences in
the game because of how many you know, how many
(04:11):
times they went to her later in the game. So
I think we're hopefully we're better equipped to deal with
that than we were back then. But you know, they
they can shoot the ball really, really well, and if
you spend too much time on it was a similar
(04:36):
challenge to last night, right. You know, you've got two
things you've got to deal with, and it's just a
matter of at which point in the game are you
willing to what are you willing to give up at
that point in the game. The only thing certain is
that you can't play against her one on one, just
like we couldn't play it last night one on one
(04:56):
against Reagan Beer. So it's going to involve a lot
of people, and it's gonna involve a lot of chess matches.
Speaker 8 (05:11):
Maggie Bint, you've along side the lead eight is one
of the hardest games the tournament. You've had some historic
battles in this round. What is it about this game
in particular that makes it so difficult, especially when you
know what could be next?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
That's what makes it so difficult, what could be next.
You know, if what was coming next wasn't that important,
it wouldn't be difficult, and everybody reacts differently to it.
Preparing for the game is just like preparing for any
other game when it comes down to that. But I
(05:46):
think the uh, the actual game itself. You know, you
want it to be like any other NCAA tournament game,
but similar to what comes next. If you win Monday night,
there's an added pressure that you put on yourself if
(06:09):
you're not careful where this shot is going to decide
whether we win or lose. Well, the score is two
to two in the first quarter, you know, it's not
really so you have to, you know, get yourself to
get in that mindset. And it's and people say, well,
you know, take it one game at a time, take
(06:29):
it one play at a time. We preach that, but
in reality, you know, some players are going to rise
to vucation and some are going to shrink.
Speaker 9 (06:38):
It's just the nature of it.
Speaker 10 (06:50):
Ryan carcill Times Kennedy Smith's first game back from injury
was the earlier matchup this season in stores. What do
you see different maybe from her now now? Uh, given
all that time, and how does her defense maybe affect
the game, especially for them?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Well, it certainly did yesterday, and a lot of times
it doesn't necessarily show up on the statue. You know, Yeah,
they're you know, three steals that shows up on them
on a stat sheet, But how many plays are impacted
by her presence and you know, getting a tip of
a pass or you know, anything that disrupts the other
(07:27):
team's offense. So I think she's really really good at that.
And you know, coming from October to now, obviously the
number of games that she's played and how many of
those situations she's been in, you know, you keep growing,
and you keep learning new things, and you keep finding
more ways to impact the game. And and I think
(07:47):
that's it's that's really coinciding with If Juju's not here
and Kenny had not made any progress, I think they'd
be way worse off. But I think those freshmen, especially her,
have made so much progress that it takes a little
bit of the sting out of it. And sometimes freshmen
(08:10):
surprise you. You know, you think they're going to be the
most affected, and sometimes there's the least affected by the moment.
Speaker 9 (08:17):
So yeah, hello over a man.
Speaker 11 (08:21):
Mm hmm, good morning. You know, Chantal Jennings with the
athletic you've been a part of the game for a
long time. You're one of the people who's really helped
build it to this point. This is the time of
year where the lights are the brightest, most eyes are
on the game. Do you give yourself any amount of
(08:41):
time during this part of the season to enjoy like
where the game has come?
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Mhm, I do. It's hard. It's hard not to see,
you know, how far it's come, even though you're not
kind of you're really not looking for it. You're not
(09:10):
going around every day trying to, you know, assess the
state of the game, but it is all around you.
Matter of fact, I was talking to dec Anner yesterday
before the game and I said, our very first regional,
the way we got there was there was a shot
(09:32):
with like one second left that Toledo took that didn't
go in, and the buzzer sounded and one official thought
it was a foul and the other official thought time
had already run out. And there's two officials and they're
(09:52):
at the table talking about it. There's no video, there's
no third official, there's no fifteen different camera angles. What
did I see? What did you see? You know? She
comes out of that little meeting, goes like, this game's
over and we're off the regionals and it's our first
final four after that, you know, And now you look
at it today and it's it's a completely different game
(10:19):
and completely different environment. There's more people sitting here in
front of me today than I saw the entire year.
You know, back then. It's just the level of play,
the number of people playing, the number of teams that
(10:40):
are competing at a high level. There isn't anything that's
the same. Really, there isn't. And yeah, do I think
about our impact on it, Yukon's impact on it. It's
hard not to, and I think that's for other people
(11:02):
to assess what our impact has been. But I am
pretty pretty satisfied that we've had a pretty big impact
on the game.
Speaker 6 (11:14):
Do you know, Nancy Hammer USA today sports. The parallels
between Page and Juju's injuries are so similar because of
the injury, who they are, all of the things. I'm
wondering what kind of encouragement watching Page's performance last night
could give anyone who is, you know, worried about Juju,
wondering what it's going to be like for her to
(11:35):
come back.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I think the strength of the person that that's being
affected by it ultimately determines what the comeback looks like.
Some people they they go into a law long, deep
(12:01):
depressive state and it's takes them a long time to
get out of it and it sets their progress back.
And others are very very positive about it, very much
attacking it like they like they attack the game, and
I would think Juja is in that mold. And I
don't know of anyone that I've coached that that suffered
(12:25):
an injury like this that was the quality of player
that we're talking about that didn't come back better, because
that's what makes them who they are. For them, it's
another challenge, it's another game to win. It's another opponent
that they have to beat. And if you're a competitor,
if you're somebody like Page, somebody like Juju or some
(12:47):
of the other kids that you know that have gone
through this, they come back better, they come back stronger,
they come back more determined, you know, more resilient, more
understanding that they can fight through things and overcome to
about anything. They're tested in a way they've never been
tested before. You know. It's it's refreshing to see them
(13:16):
when when you understand what's involved in the rehab here,
how long this takes, and how many dark days there are,
you know, and then they come out of it and
see something like last night. Yeah, that's the that's the
thing that keeps them going those twelve months.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
We have time for two more questions.
Speaker 12 (13:41):
Okay, how do you know Sabrina Emergent the athletic Jeff
Mittie was saying before They're a sweet sixteen game that
there just like wasn't a lot of film on what
they could watch without Juju for USC And I'm wondering,
you have about twice as much tape as he did
to watch Do you have a good sense of what
(14:02):
you're going to see from us see or are you
still trying to figure that out?
Speaker 13 (14:07):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I don't think. I don't think we watch anymore or
any less. I do think that it's a little more unpredictable.
It's less certain of certain things that you knew you
(14:30):
were going to expect. You knew this is what this
is what's going to happen at the end of the game.
This is what's going to happen in the middle of
the game. This is what happens at the end of
the shot clock, this happens at the end of the quarters.
You know, it's a little more unpredictable, but that's why
you try to get conceptually what are they doing, as
(14:54):
opposed to specifically what are they doing, because that could change.
You knew it wasn't going to change before, but that
could change doing the course of the game, and you
don't know which direction they're going to go in you
knew back then, so you can't watch film and go, oh, yeah,
they're going to go here, and then the very next
quarter they're going there. Because there isn't a set You know,
Kiki's going to be more involved, but other than that,
(15:17):
you really don't know. So you keep the focus on us.
You know, it was like like like that last night.
You know, conceptually, this is what they do, this is
what they like to do, This is what we have
to prepare for how it happens. That's fluid. You know,
the game of basketball is so fast, it's so fluid.
You know, we don't have chance to call time out
after every possession and set our offense and defense up.
(15:40):
So you just have to be flexible, and as a coach,
you just cross your fingers. That's the best strategy for coaching.
I've come up with.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Last question for coach.
Speaker 14 (15:57):
Hardford current do you know could you talk about Ashton's
toughness yesterday after when she got hit she kind of
bounced right back up and also how she kept the
team kind of afloat, you know, in the second quarter
yesterday and going forward to Monday, and what do you
think she will do?
Speaker 3 (16:16):
H Yeah, I know that I am guilty of taking
Ashton's shade for granted. Probably the thing I appreciate the
(16:36):
most about her is that she's my target for everything
that goes wrong on the team, and I appreciate that
she doesn't hold it against me personally. I remember last
year she made a comment every day coach tells me
how bad I am, how unaware I am defensively, how
(16:58):
I get everything wrong every time, and that he thinks
I'm terrible, but I know that's just his way of
saying he loves me. I mean, who won't want a
play her like that? I wish I had twelve or that,
And I do take her for granted. But at the
same time, a lot ninety nine out of one hundred times,
(17:21):
I can't take her out of the game, whether she's
playing well or not playing well. With her, she's scoring
or not scoring, there's just something about having her in
the game that makes me feel better until it doesn't.
But I don't take her out anyway. She just gives
me an opportunity to vent. But I know she's never
(17:44):
going to back down. I know she's never going to
give in to anybody. She's never going to stop competing,
never gonna stop, you know, trying to make a play.
And it can go unnoticed until that first half yesterday
when you realize she's the only one that that's able
to get something going. And I respect her so much
(18:06):
because last year, you know, she was playing thirty some
minutes minutes a game is starting in yesterday last night's game,
and yesterday she had as big an impact as she
did last year in a different role. You know, she
loves the game of basketball. She's a hell of a
competitor and I have confidence in her. I will never
(18:28):
tell her that, but I do. Thank you, coach, Thank you.
We'll be back with you on student athletes in just
a moment. It's paigey, the water's fresh. If you're interested,
(19:03):
all right, we welcome Pagebecker's and Easy Fud to the
stage and we'll go ahead and open it up to
questions for Yukon student athletes.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
This is for Page Joe's own Channel three Hartford Page.
At this time of the year, how do you enjoy
the journey when everything about this time of the year
is what's next?
Speaker 5 (19:27):
Well, good morning to you too. Just trying to stay present,
stay in the moment. I think that's been an emphasis
for a team, not looking to the future, not worried
about the past, but trying to be the best version
of ourselves every single day. And you can't win the
next game if you don't win the practice ahead, the
(19:47):
weight room session ahead, and conquer everything that's in front
of you. So one day, one moment at a time.
Speaker 15 (20:00):
Hi, guys it Kendrick Andrews ESPN. This question is for
both of you. There's not a lot of USC film
without Juju on the floor. So how do you guys
prepare to take on this team that looks will look
a lot different at without playing through her page?
Speaker 5 (20:16):
Yeah, I think they just I mean, they run a
lot of sets. They're going through Kiki a lot now
to get buckets. She's a great player. They're still a
great team and they have great pieces.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
They made it to the lead eight for a reason.
Speaker 5 (20:30):
Obviously losing a player like Juju hurts, but they're still
a great team. They still got great pieces. I think
they just they run the same sets but for different people.
So scouting scouting that, looking at that, knowing the offense,
knowing what they run, and just trying to make them
as uncomfortable as possible. But they they've got players that
have filled the void that have stepped up huge, and
(20:52):
so I think it's just a matter of learning their
sets and knowing other people's tendencies.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Crazy.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
You did a great job answering.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
That everything that.
Speaker 10 (21:05):
No Ryan Karci la times for Paige, what do you
recall about the way USC defended you back in the
matchup in December and what is it about their defense
overall that makes them so tough on that.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
End, a really good defensive team. They have great guard defense,
they have great interior defense. They get out deny and
make things difficult, pressure, try to turn you over, speed
you up, and so we just got to stay composed,
stay playing our tempo and our pace. But they do
a really good job of trying to create chaos and
(21:45):
forced turnovers and being aggressive on the defensive end, which
leads to what they want to do on offense. So
just knowing that and being prepared for that.
Speaker 16 (21:57):
Henry Remote Daily Children Pay. Can you talk specifically about
what Kennedy Smith brings as an on ball defender and
are you expecting to see a lot of that matchup
and if so, what are your thoughts on it.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Yeah, she's a great defender.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
You would think she would is not a freshman the
way she's experienced in the way she plays defense, but
just her mentality, her tenacity, her length, her agility, her speed,
her lateral movement. She does a really good job of
anticipating as well. She has great defensive instincts, So she's
a great defensive player and so whatever, I don't know
(22:30):
who she'll be matched up against, but.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
She does a great job defensively.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Nancy m or USA today sports. You both have had
knee injuries, and I'm wondering if you could say what
is the toughest part of the rehabilitation and then page
when you have a game like last night, what kind
of encouragement should that give juju that you can go
through something like this and come back not only as
good as you are but even better.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Possibly first is that you want to go first?
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 17 (23:11):
For me, I would say the toughest part, Sorry, the
toughest part was mentally. I think as an athlete, you
know where we know how to get through the hard
stuff physically every day and practice is hard, during the
season is hard, Lifting is hard. So for me, it
was mentally and just trying to figure out trying to
be in a good place that I can, you know,
(23:34):
find positives in this rehab process when the only thing
I want to do is be on the court with
my team and playing. So I think mentally was where
I grew the most last year and still now I'm
still growing, still working on it, but I think that's definitely,
definitely was the hardest part and where I grew the most.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
Yeah, when I was coming back from my injury, I
drew a lot of inspiration from my teammates, from people
who came back from major injuries. Kelsey Plum, Brianna Store
were a couple of them, and then a lot of
my teammates actually had acl injuries prior to when I
had it, So just looking at them for inspiration and
looking at them as a blueprint and a how to
(24:14):
and knowing that what their story, their journey and how
they came back from it and using it as inspiration
to what I want to accomplish, and so just to
be able. I know last year a huge part of
my journey was wanting to inspire people who have gone
through terrible injuries, devastating blows, that you can come back
better and stronger, and nobody can write you off, nobody
(24:36):
can put you in a box to injury, riddle the
narratives this, that, but you can break all those narratives
and you can come back better better than ever mentally, physically, emotionally.
So that was a huge inspiration that I drew from
and you hope to inspire as well.
Speaker 13 (24:57):
Hi, this is Annie Peterson from Associated Press. This is
for both of you. The UCLA players talked about working
with sports psychologists and they have a mind gym and
they center mental health and how it's helped them, especially
you know at this point of the year, I'm wondering
how much you guys rely on a sports psychologist at
(25:17):
this time of year and how it helps your team page.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
Yeah, I work with a sports psychologist. I know a
lot of people on the team do. But it's just
a grounding point of a person who you can go
to and there's no judgment. It's a judgment free zone
and they can just talk to you about anything. Just
easier nerves, call me down, get you to focus on
everything but what's going on in the present, and just
(25:42):
trying to be I mean, the best version of yourself.
I know a lot of things can happen during this time,
a lot of pressures, the stakes, what you're trying to accomplish.
You can get caught up in that, but just I know,
a huge emphasis for me was staying present, staying in
the moment, standing firm and who we are as a team,
who we want to be as individuals, and just not
(26:04):
getting too caught up in anything else, but trying to
be present for the team, enjoy every moment.
Speaker 17 (26:13):
Yeah, I think talking to someone is super helpful. I
know it's helped me a lot this year, and having
that kind of foundation of talking to them all year
has helped now being in you know, being in March,
I kind of I know, I just have a better
sense of like where I am, not getting stressed, not
feeling the pressure. But I think it definitely helps just
(26:35):
having that relationship with them, and like she said, it's
a judgment free zone.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
You can go to them for anything.
Speaker 17 (26:40):
And yeah, I would say a huge empasis for me
also is staying present this year and controlling the controllables,
making sure that, you know, in order to do what
I do best is like I can't get outside of myself,
so knowing what I can control and not getting upset
with the things that I can and making sure I'm
just you know, doing what can.
Speaker 16 (27:05):
Kevin Pelton ESPN dot com page. Was there anyone kind
of notable that you heard from after last night's game
or that stood out after that kind of performance on
that on the stage.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Mm.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Lots of friends, lots of family just reaching out offering support.
Speaker 9 (27:26):
M M.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Yeah, that's about it.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Let's go to zoom for a question from Patrick Wearing.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Patrick, Hey, how you doing?
Speaker 18 (27:41):
My questions for as as obviously you come from a
basketball family and you're also from the d m V.
Just wanted to kind of ask you how how does
both of those how have they prepared you for success
at this level?
Speaker 17 (28:00):
Yeah? I think having sorry, I think coming from a
basketball family, having two parents that played and coached me
growing up, you know, I can't imagine growing up any
other way. I mean, they're the reason that I am
the way I am, the reason that I have my
work ethic and my kind of detail oriented mindset, and
also like the reason for my shot. So I kind
(28:21):
of thank them for everything. But I think that kind
of kind of set the foundation for me on like
what to expect, just my mindset of never settling, never
getting complacent. And then you know, being in the DMV,
they've got some of the best basketball. So competing at
such a high level from when I was younger to
high school and now seeing old people I played against
(28:41):
in high school still playing in March and doing well,
like always supporting other DMV athletes. But I think just
getting to compete at such a high level at a
young age definitely helped prepare me for now.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Let's go to our Cleveland and zoom.
Speaker 19 (28:59):
Coach always talks about how difficult the Elite eight game
is because there's so much at stake. You've had your
biggest games in the Elite eight round against Baylor, North
Carolina State USC you scored twenty seven or twenty eight
in each of those games. Do you just get up
mentally for that big game because there's so much at stake.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
You try not to think about the stakes or the
pressure or getting to the final four. Obviously that's there,
So you try not to think about it and just
go out and play every single game the same way
like it's your last, like it's the most important forty
minutes of your life. So whatever that calls for on
any given night, you just try to do that and
prepare for that. But as a team, we just want
(29:42):
the season to keep going as long as possible, so
leaving nothing up the chance, giving it all, Like I said,
for that forty minutes to play for another forty it's
our our team mindset.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
We have time for one more question, and if there
is one in the.
Speaker 16 (29:57):
Room, Kevin Pelton ESPN dot com, Easy, how different do
you feel kind of physically and mentally from the last
time you faced us? See it coming off, you know,
multiple injuries in sort of.
Speaker 17 (30:09):
A sense, Yeah, I feel completely different. I mean I
tried to play in our last game against USC and
I just wasn't ready and that's okay, But so yeah,
I feel like a completely different player. Definitely a completely
different mindset as well. But I'm super excited and yeah,
(30:30):
I mean I feel I'm in a complete different place
than I was then, So I'm excited to play.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
All right, We'll thank the student athletes and let them go.
Good morning. We welcome Yukon head coach Gino Oriema to
the stage and we will just roll right into questions
for coach.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning, Gino. Joe's one from Channel three Hartford. There's
a lot of talk about it and join the mission
the journey. But how do you do that when everything
here is about what's next?
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Well, yeah, that's the that's the balance that you have
to have to be in the moment. You know, understanding
what the moment means. And if you get a little
bit ahead of yourself and start thinking about what comes after,
(00:48):
then then you're going to struggle in the moment that
you're in. So same as actually doing a game. You know,
you you try to win every possession and you don't
think about the outcome of the game. It's not a
lot easier said than done. But you know, I think
being a little bit more mature, I think does help
(01:10):
you do that.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
Emily Adams hert for Current.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
Yeah, you saw this team in the lead a last year,
you saw them in the regular season.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
How different do they look right now? Missing Juju? But
also just compared to the team that you saw in
the tournament last year?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Well, going going into the tournament, based on this season.
I think they they grew from the experience that they
had last season, from the season and our game. I
think they grew from that and you could see it.
I think the the pieces that they added their young
(02:01):
players certainly changed the makeup of the team. And that
was really evident yesterday obviously. And yeah, you know, we
we saw firsthand what it's like to play without someone
(02:22):
who means so much to your team. You know, we
haven't been immune to a lot of that stuff over
the years.
Speaker 6 (02:31):
And.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
At this time of the year, as you saw last night,
someone has to you know, someone has to step up
and do all the heavy lifting, and that you know,
normally would be you know, somebody like Juju. But if
you have enough good people around around her, which they do,
(03:00):
they will get a chance to stand out even more
than they would have ordinarily, so that could compensate for it. So, yeah,
they are a different team in a positive way, and
they're a different team in a negative way because it
would happen.
Speaker 7 (03:26):
Alexa philip O ESPN speaking of the kind of supporting
cast around Juju with Kiki Irriff, and she was obviously
a star in her own right at Stanford and then
now at USC, how does she like them playing wanting
to play through her a little bit more kind of
change what you guys have to do, and how do
you guys look to kind of flow her down.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Maybe it changes how they look in that she gets
more more touches than maybe she would. But I thought
in the first game when we played them in Hartford,
I thought she was one of the big differences in
the game because of how many you know, how many
(04:11):
times they went to her later in the game. So
I think we're hopefully we're better equipped to deal with
that than we were back then. But you know, they
they can shoot the ball really, really well, and if
you spend too much time on it was a similar
(04:36):
challenge to last night, right. You know, you've got two
things you've got to deal with, and it's just a
matter of at which point in the game are you
willing to what are you willing to give up at
that point in the game. The only thing certain is
that you can't play against her one on one, just
like we couldn't play it last night one on one
(04:56):
against Reagan Beer. So it's going to involve a lot
of people, and it's gonna involve a lot of chess matches.
Speaker 8 (05:11):
Maggie Bint, you've along side the lead eight is one
of the hardest games the tournament. You've had some historic
battles in this round. What is it about this game
in particular that makes it so difficult, especially when you
know what could be next?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
That's what makes it so difficult, what could be next.
You know, if what was coming next wasn't that important,
it wouldn't be difficult, and everybody reacts differently to it.
Preparing for the game is just like preparing for any
other game when it comes down to that. But I
(05:46):
think the uh, the actual game itself. You know, you
want it to be like any other NCAA tournament game,
but similar to what comes next. If you win Monday night,
there's an added pressure that you put on yourself if
(06:09):
you're not careful where this shot is going to decide
whether we win or lose. Well, the score is two
to two in the first quarter, you know, it's not
really so you have to, you know, get yourself to
get in that mindset. And it's and people say, well,
you know, take it one game at a time, take
(06:29):
it one play at a time. We preach that, but
in reality, you know, some players are going to rise
to vucation and some are going to shrink.
Speaker 9 (06:38):
It's just the nature of it.
Speaker 10 (06:50):
Ryan carcill Times Kennedy Smith's first game back from injury
was the earlier matchup this season in stores. What do
you see different maybe from her now now? Uh, given
all that time, and how does her defense maybe affect
the game, especially for them?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Well, it certainly did yesterday, and a lot of times
it doesn't necessarily show up on the statue. You know, Yeah,
they're you know, three steals that shows up on them
on a stat sheet, But how many plays are impacted
by her presence and you know, getting a tip of
a pass or you know, anything that disrupts the other
(07:27):
team's offense. So I think she's really really good at that.
And you know, coming from October to now, obviously the
number of games that she's played and how many of
those situations she's been in, you know, you keep growing,
and you keep learning new things, and you keep finding
more ways to impact the game. And and I think
(07:47):
that's it's that's really coinciding with If Juju's not here
and Kenny had not made any progress, I think they'd
be way worse off. But I think those freshmen, especially her,
have made so much progress that it takes a little
bit of the sting out of it. And sometimes freshmen
(08:10):
surprise you. You know, you think they're going to be the
most affected, and sometimes there's the least affected by the moment.
Speaker 9 (08:17):
So yeah, hello over a man.
Speaker 11 (08:21):
Mm hmm, good morning. You know, Chantal Jennings with the
athletic you've been a part of the game for a
long time. You're one of the people who's really helped
build it to this point. This is the time of
year where the lights are the brightest, most eyes are
on the game. Do you give yourself any amount of
(08:41):
time during this part of the season to enjoy like
where the game has come?
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Mhm, I do. It's hard. It's hard not to see,
you know, how far it's come, even though you're not
kind of you're really not looking for it. You're not
(09:10):
going around every day trying to, you know, assess the
state of the game, but it is all around you.
Matter of fact, I was talking to dec Anner yesterday
before the game and I said, our very first regional,
the way we got there was there was a shot
(09:32):
with like one second left that Toledo took that didn't
go in, and the buzzer sounded and one official thought
it was a foul and the other official thought time
had already run out. And there's two officials and they're
(09:52):
at the table talking about it. There's no video, there's
no third official, there's no fifteen different camera angles. What
did I see? What did you see? You know? She
comes out of that little meeting, goes like, this game's
over and we're off the regionals and it's our first
final four after that, you know, And now you look
at it today and it's it's a completely different game
(10:19):
and completely different environment. There's more people sitting here in
front of me today than I saw the entire year.
You know, back then. It's just the level of play,
the number of people playing, the number of teams that
(10:40):
are competing at a high level. There isn't anything that's
the same. Really, there isn't. And yeah, do I think
about our impact on it, Yukon's impact on it. It's
hard not to, and I think that's for other people
(11:02):
to assess what our impact has been. But I am
pretty pretty satisfied that we've had a pretty big impact
on the game.
Speaker 6 (11:14):
Do you know, Nancy Hammer USA today sports. The parallels
between Page and Juju's injuries are so similar because of
the injury, who they are, all of the things. I'm
wondering what kind of encouragement watching Page's performance last night
could give anyone who is, you know, worried about Juju,
wondering what it's going to be like for her to
(11:35):
come back.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I think the strength of the person that that's being
affected by it ultimately determines what the comeback looks like.
Some people they they go into a law long, deep
(12:01):
depressive state and it's takes them a long time to
get out of it and it sets their progress back.
And others are very very positive about it, very much
attacking it like they like they attack the game, and
I would think Juja is in that mold. And I
don't know of anyone that I've coached that that suffered
(12:25):
an injury like this that was the quality of player
that we're talking about that didn't come back better, because
that's what makes them who they are. For them, it's
another challenge, it's another game to win. It's another opponent
that they have to beat. And if you're a competitor,
if you're somebody like Page, somebody like Juju or some
(12:47):
of the other kids that you know that have gone
through this, they come back better, they come back stronger,
they come back more determined, you know, more resilient, more
understanding that they can fight through things and overcome to
about anything. They're tested in a way they've never been
tested before. You know. It's it's refreshing to see them
(13:16):
when when you understand what's involved in the rehab here,
how long this takes, and how many dark days there are,
you know, and then they come out of it and
see something like last night. Yeah, that's the that's the
thing that keeps them going those twelve months.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
We have time for two more questions.
Speaker 12 (13:41):
Okay, how do you know Sabrina Emergent the athletic Jeff
Mittie was saying before They're a sweet sixteen game that
there just like wasn't a lot of film on what
they could watch without Juju for USC And I'm wondering,
you have about twice as much tape as he did
to watch Do you have a good sense of what
(14:02):
you're going to see from us see or are you
still trying to figure that out?
Speaker 13 (14:07):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I don't think. I don't think we watch anymore or
any less. I do think that it's a little more unpredictable.
It's less certain of certain things that you knew you
(14:30):
were going to expect. You knew this is what this
is what's going to happen at the end of the game.
This is what's going to happen in the middle of
the game. This is what happens at the end of
the shot clock, this happens at the end of the quarters.
You know, it's a little more unpredictable, but that's why
you try to get conceptually what are they doing, as
(14:54):
opposed to specifically what are they doing, because that could change.
You knew it wasn't going to change before, but that
could change doing the course of the game, and you
don't know which direction they're going to go in you
knew back then, so you can't watch film and go, oh, yeah,
they're going to go here, and then the very next
quarter they're going there. Because there isn't a set You know,
Kiki's going to be more involved, but other than that,
(15:17):
you really don't know. So you keep the focus on us.
You know, it was like like like that last night.
You know, conceptually, this is what they do, this is
what they like to do, This is what we have
to prepare for how it happens. That's fluid. You know,
the game of basketball is so fast, it's so fluid.
You know, we don't have chance to call time out
after every possession and set our offense and defense up.
(15:40):
So you just have to be flexible, and as a coach,
you just cross your fingers. That's the best strategy for coaching.
I've come up with.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Last question for coach.
Speaker 14 (15:57):
Hardford current do you know could you talk about Ashton's
toughness yesterday after when she got hit she kind of
bounced right back up and also how she kept the
team kind of afloat, you know, in the second quarter
yesterday and going forward to Monday, and what do you
think she will do?
Speaker 3 (16:16):
H Yeah, I know that I am guilty of taking
Ashton's shade for granted. Probably the thing I appreciate the
(16:36):
most about her is that she's my target for everything
that goes wrong on the team, and I appreciate that
she doesn't hold it against me personally. I remember last
year she made a comment every day coach tells me
how bad I am, how unaware I am defensively, how
(16:58):
I get everything wrong every time, and that he thinks
I'm terrible, but I know that's just his way of
saying he loves me. I mean, who won't want a
play her like that? I wish I had twelve or that,
And I do take her for granted. But at the
same time, a lot ninety nine out of one hundred times,
(17:21):
I can't take her out of the game, whether she's
playing well or not playing well. With her, she's scoring
or not scoring, there's just something about having her in
the game that makes me feel better until it doesn't.
But I don't take her out anyway. She just gives
me an opportunity to vent. But I know she's never
(17:44):
going to back down. I know she's never going to
give in to anybody. She's never going to stop competing,
never gonna stop, you know, trying to make a play.
And it can go unnoticed until that first half yesterday
when you realize she's the only one that that's able
to get something going. And I respect her so much
(18:06):
because last year, you know, she was playing thirty some
minutes minutes a game is starting in yesterday last night's game,
and yesterday she had as big an impact as she
did last year in a different role. You know, she
loves the game of basketball. She's a hell of a
competitor and I have confidence in her. I will never
(18:28):
tell her that, but I do. Thank you, coach, Thank you.
We'll be back with you on student athletes in just
a moment. It's paigey, the water's fresh. If you're interested,
(19:03):
all right, we welcome Pagebecker's and Easy Fud to the
stage and we'll go ahead and open it up to
questions for Yukon student athletes.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
This is for Page Joe's own Channel three Hartford Page.
At this time of the year, how do you enjoy
the journey when everything about this time of the year
is what's next?
Speaker 5 (19:27):
Well, good morning to you too. Just trying to stay present,
stay in the moment. I think that's been an emphasis
for a team, not looking to the future, not worried
about the past, but trying to be the best version
of ourselves every single day. And you can't win the
next game if you don't win the practice ahead, the
(19:47):
weight room session ahead, and conquer everything that's in front
of you. So one day, one moment at a time.
Speaker 15 (20:00):
Hi, guys it Kendrick Andrews ESPN. This question is for
both of you. There's not a lot of USC film
without Juju on the floor. So how do you guys
prepare to take on this team that looks will look
a lot different at without playing through her page?
Speaker 5 (20:16):
Yeah, I think they just I mean, they run a
lot of sets. They're going through Kiki a lot now
to get buckets. She's a great player. They're still a
great team and they have great pieces.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
They made it to the lead eight for a reason.
Speaker 5 (20:30):
Obviously losing a player like Juju hurts, but they're still
a great team. They still got great pieces. I think
they just they run the same sets but for different people.
So scouting scouting that, looking at that, knowing the offense,
knowing what they run, and just trying to make them
as uncomfortable as possible. But they they've got players that
have filled the void that have stepped up huge, and
(20:52):
so I think it's just a matter of learning their
sets and knowing other people's tendencies.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Crazy.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
You did a great job answering.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
That everything that.
Speaker 10 (21:05):
No Ryan Karci la times for Paige, what do you
recall about the way USC defended you back in the
matchup in December and what is it about their defense
overall that makes them so tough on that.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
End, a really good defensive team. They have great guard defense,
they have great interior defense. They get out deny and
make things difficult, pressure, try to turn you over, speed
you up, and so we just got to stay composed,
stay playing our tempo and our pace. But they do
a really good job of trying to create chaos and
(21:45):
forced turnovers and being aggressive on the defensive end, which
leads to what they want to do on offense. So
just knowing that and being prepared for that.
Speaker 16 (21:57):
Henry Remote Daily Children Pay. Can you talk specifically about
what Kennedy Smith brings as an on ball defender and
are you expecting to see a lot of that matchup
and if so, what are your thoughts on it.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
Yeah, she's a great defender.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
You would think she would is not a freshman the
way she's experienced in the way she plays defense, but
just her mentality, her tenacity, her length, her agility, her speed,
her lateral movement. She does a really good job of
anticipating as well. She has great defensive instincts, So she's
a great defensive player and so whatever, I don't know
(22:30):
who she'll be matched up against, but.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
She does a great job defensively.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Nancy m or USA today sports. You both have had
knee injuries, and I'm wondering if you could say what
is the toughest part of the rehabilitation and then page
when you have a game like last night, what kind
of encouragement should that give juju that you can go
through something like this and come back not only as
good as you are but even better.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Possibly first is that you want to go first?
Speaker 4 (23:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 17 (23:11):
For me, I would say the toughest part, Sorry, the
toughest part was mentally. I think as an athlete, you
know where we know how to get through the hard
stuff physically every day and practice is hard, during the
season is hard, Lifting is hard. So for me, it
was mentally and just trying to figure out trying to
be in a good place that I can, you know,
(23:34):
find positives in this rehab process when the only thing
I want to do is be on the court with
my team and playing. So I think mentally was where
I grew the most last year and still now I'm
still growing, still working on it, but I think that's definitely,
definitely was the hardest part and where I grew the most.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
Yeah, when I was coming back from my injury, I
drew a lot of inspiration from my teammates, from people
who came back from major injuries. Kelsey Plum, Brianna Store
were a couple of them, and then a lot of
my teammates actually had acl injuries prior to when I
had it, So just looking at them for inspiration and
looking at them as a blueprint and a how to
(24:14):
and knowing that what their story, their journey and how
they came back from it and using it as inspiration
to what I want to accomplish, and so just to
be able. I know last year a huge part of
my journey was wanting to inspire people who have gone
through terrible injuries, devastating blows, that you can come back
better and stronger, and nobody can write you off, nobody
(24:36):
can put you in a box to injury, riddle the
narratives this, that, but you can break all those narratives
and you can come back better better than ever mentally, physically, emotionally.
So that was a huge inspiration that I drew from
and you hope to inspire as well.
Speaker 13 (24:57):
Hi, this is Annie Peterson from Associated Press. This is
for both of you. The UCLA players talked about working
with sports psychologists and they have a mind gym and
they center mental health and how it's helped them, especially
you know at this point of the year, I'm wondering
how much you guys rely on a sports psychologist at
(25:17):
this time of year and how it helps your team page.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
Yeah, I work with a sports psychologist. I know a
lot of people on the team do. But it's just
a grounding point of a person who you can go
to and there's no judgment. It's a judgment free zone
and they can just talk to you about anything. Just
easier nerves, call me down, get you to focus on
everything but what's going on in the present, and just
(25:42):
trying to be I mean, the best version of yourself.
I know a lot of things can happen during this time,
a lot of pressures, the stakes, what you're trying to accomplish.
You can get caught up in that, but just I know,
a huge emphasis for me was staying present, staying in
the moment, standing firm and who we are as a team,
who we want to be as individuals, and just not
(26:04):
getting too caught up in anything else, but trying to
be present for the team, enjoy every moment.
Speaker 17 (26:13):
Yeah, I think talking to someone is super helpful. I
know it's helped me a lot this year, and having
that kind of foundation of talking to them all year
has helped now being in you know, being in March,
I kind of I know, I just have a better
sense of like where I am, not getting stressed, not
feeling the pressure. But I think it definitely helps just
(26:35):
having that relationship with them, and like she said, it's
a judgment free zone.
Speaker 4 (26:38):
You can go to them for anything.
Speaker 17 (26:40):
And yeah, I would say a huge empasis for me
also is staying present this year and controlling the controllables,
making sure that, you know, in order to do what
I do best is like I can't get outside of myself,
so knowing what I can control and not getting upset
with the things that I can and making sure I'm
just you know, doing what can.
Speaker 16 (27:05):
Kevin Pelton ESPN dot com page. Was there anyone kind
of notable that you heard from after last night's game
or that stood out after that kind of performance on
that on the stage.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Mm.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
Lots of friends, lots of family just reaching out offering support.
Speaker 9 (27:26):
M M.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
Yeah, that's about it.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
Let's go to zoom for a question from Patrick Wearing.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Patrick, Hey, how you doing?
Speaker 18 (27:41):
My questions for as as obviously you come from a
basketball family and you're also from the d m V.
Just wanted to kind of ask you how how does
both of those how have they prepared you for success
at this level?
Speaker 17 (28:00):
Yeah? I think having sorry, I think coming from a
basketball family, having two parents that played and coached me
growing up, you know, I can't imagine growing up any
other way. I mean, they're the reason that I am
the way I am, the reason that I have my
work ethic and my kind of detail oriented mindset, and
also like the reason for my shot. So I kind
(28:21):
of thank them for everything. But I think that kind
of kind of set the foundation for me on like
what to expect, just my mindset of never settling, never
getting complacent. And then you know, being in the DMV,
they've got some of the best basketball. So competing at
such a high level from when I was younger to
high school and now seeing old people I played against
(28:41):
in high school still playing in March and doing well,
like always supporting other DMV athletes. But I think just
getting to compete at such a high level at a
young age definitely helped prepare me for now.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Let's go to our Cleveland and zoom.
Speaker 19 (28:59):
Coach always talks about how difficult the Elite eight game
is because there's so much at stake. You've had your
biggest games in the Elite eight round against Baylor, North
Carolina State USC you scored twenty seven or twenty eight
in each of those games. Do you just get up
mentally for that big game because there's so much at stake.
Speaker 5 (29:21):
You try not to think about the stakes or the
pressure or getting to the final four. Obviously that's there,
So you try not to think about it and just
go out and play every single game the same way
like it's your last, like it's the most important forty
minutes of your life. So whatever that calls for on
any given night, you just try to do that and
prepare for that. But as a team, we just want
(29:42):
the season to keep going as long as possible, so
leaving nothing up the chance, giving it all, Like I said,
for that forty minutes to play for another forty it's
our our team mindset.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
We have time for one more question, and if there
is one in the.
Speaker 16 (29:57):
Room, Kevin Pelton ESPN dot com, Easy, how different do
you feel kind of physically and mentally from the last
time you faced us? See it coming off, you know,
multiple injuries in sort of.
Speaker 17 (30:09):
A sense, Yeah, I feel completely different. I mean I
tried to play in our last game against USC and
I just wasn't ready and that's okay, But so yeah,
I feel like a completely different player. Definitely a completely
different mindset as well. But I'm super excited and yeah,
(30:30):
I mean I feel I'm in a complete different place
than I was then, So I'm excited to play.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
All right, We'll thank the student athletes and let them go.
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