Aggies Blair Likes Team
COLLEGE STATION, TX -- I intervewed Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair to get his thoughts on his 2008 - 2009 squad and the always ultra-competitive Big 12 Conference.
You seem much more confident about this year’s team:
“I like my team just because of how much depth we have. We’ve got kids that can play. We’ve got a great balance between the old kids and the young kids. Sometimes you can be ‘senior laden’ or ‘freshmen laden’ and we’ve got a balance. The competition is unbelievable. Our three returning starters may not start this year because our young kids are coming on hard in practice; however, the returning players have done ‘it’ against the Dukes; the Tennessees; the Oklahomas. We have to make sure our young players understand they’re not going against Duncanville or against a junior college team; but, they’re facing high level Division I teams.”
How’s the health of the team? –
“It’s getting better. Sydney Colson is going to be a surprise. We’re going to get her back (tore her ACL in June) quicker than we thought. There’s an outside chance we could have her for a few minutes in our first ball game which is November 14. Now, that may be a bit of a reach; but, I’m hoping for the best because I need my General out there.
“We’re monitoring Danielle Gant because she had a scope (arthroscopic surgery) done this summer; so, she hasn’t been able to do much for a few months. We’re bringing her along slowly because we don’t have to worry about her conditioning. She’s always in good shape. We just have to make sure she can go through and be ready to play 35 minutes a game at whatever position we play her.”
With Sydney not yet back, discuss your point guard situation…
“Every day there’s a new person out there. Whether it’s Taniqua Hollis, the little freshman from West Texas, Sydney Carter -- who’s out right now with a sprained ankle for about another week – so, she hasn’t practiced with us, yet. Tanisha Smith, the juco, has spent a little time at the point. Takia Starks has to play the point just to get us through practice. I even had to put a young lady on the men’s practice team, a walk-on, just so I could get another guard out there for practice.”
Talk about Tyra White –
“Tyra White is Takia Starks all over except Tyra is four inches taller. Tyra has to be more forceful; and, she has to add to her game. She has to learn how to play defense the Aggie way. I think the redshirt season helped her mature; get over the homesickness; and learn how hard you have to play at this level. She’s what is described as a glider. You don’t think she’s playing hard; but, she makes plays. I think she’s going to really step us for us this year. She’s picked to be Big 12 Freshman of the Year for the second year in a row. I don’t believe that’s happened before. I don’t want her to picked a third year in a row. I’d like to keep her healthy this year. Hopefully, she’ll be able to play a lot of minutes for us – both at the two (shooting guard) and the three (wing position).”
How about freshman forward Adaora Elonu? --
“There’s a good chance she might start for us. She’s coming on strong every day. I picked up the stats sheet the other day and she had 11 rebounds and LaToya Micheaux had one. I asked Micheaux what happened; and, she said, ‘She’s picking up all the shots before I can get there.’ I said ‘Micheaux you have to be instinctive and quicker to the ball.’
“Adaora can possibly be Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Don’t rule her out because she’s going to get the minutes to prove herself.”
Any thoughts on being picked fifth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll?
“That’s locker room stuff right there. A lot of it is due to the nature of how you vote. When the coaches voted in September, we voted on how we thought people would finish not who the five (or the six) best teams are. You vote on how you think the teams would finish; and, there’s no way you could list five teams in the (Big 12) South one through five. It’s impossible with the numbers.
“In the (Big 12) North, when you look at Iowa State and what Coach Fennelly (Bill Fennelly) has coming back and how good a coach he is, Iowa State might be picked to win it because it’s hard to beat them in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State used to be guard dominated; but, this season he’s got the post players to get it done. He’s going to have a lot of balance; and, obviously, he’s the best zone team in our league.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see Iowa State win it; but, hopefully, we’ll have something to say about that. I like my team. I like my chances; but, what we have to do is get off to a better start in the League than what we’ve done the last three years. We’ve lost to Kansas State (to start conference play) two years in a row. This year we start with Missouri; and, we don’t need to stumble there.”
You seem much more confident about this year’s team:
“I like my team just because of how much depth we have. We’ve got kids that can play. We’ve got a great balance between the old kids and the young kids. Sometimes you can be ‘senior laden’ or ‘freshmen laden’ and we’ve got a balance. The competition is unbelievable. Our three returning starters may not start this year because our young kids are coming on hard in practice; however, the returning players have done ‘it’ against the Dukes; the Tennessees; the Oklahomas. We have to make sure our young players understand they’re not going against Duncanville or against a junior college team; but, they’re facing high level Division I teams.”
How’s the health of the team? –
“It’s getting better. Sydney Colson is going to be a surprise. We’re going to get her back (tore her ACL in June) quicker than we thought. There’s an outside chance we could have her for a few minutes in our first ball game which is November 14. Now, that may be a bit of a reach; but, I’m hoping for the best because I need my General out there.
“We’re monitoring Danielle Gant because she had a scope (arthroscopic surgery) done this summer; so, she hasn’t been able to do much for a few months. We’re bringing her along slowly because we don’t have to worry about her conditioning. She’s always in good shape. We just have to make sure she can go through and be ready to play 35 minutes a game at whatever position we play her.”
With Sydney not yet back, discuss your point guard situation…
“Every day there’s a new person out there. Whether it’s Taniqua Hollis, the little freshman from West Texas, Sydney Carter -- who’s out right now with a sprained ankle for about another week – so, she hasn’t practiced with us, yet. Tanisha Smith, the juco, has spent a little time at the point. Takia Starks has to play the point just to get us through practice. I even had to put a young lady on the men’s practice team, a walk-on, just so I could get another guard out there for practice.”
Talk about Tyra White –
“Tyra White is Takia Starks all over except Tyra is four inches taller. Tyra has to be more forceful; and, she has to add to her game. She has to learn how to play defense the Aggie way. I think the redshirt season helped her mature; get over the homesickness; and learn how hard you have to play at this level. She’s what is described as a glider. You don’t think she’s playing hard; but, she makes plays. I think she’s going to really step us for us this year. She’s picked to be Big 12 Freshman of the Year for the second year in a row. I don’t believe that’s happened before. I don’t want her to picked a third year in a row. I’d like to keep her healthy this year. Hopefully, she’ll be able to play a lot of minutes for us – both at the two (shooting guard) and the three (wing position).”
How about freshman forward Adaora Elonu? --
“There’s a good chance she might start for us. She’s coming on strong every day. I picked up the stats sheet the other day and she had 11 rebounds and LaToya Micheaux had one. I asked Micheaux what happened; and, she said, ‘She’s picking up all the shots before I can get there.’ I said ‘Micheaux you have to be instinctive and quicker to the ball.’
“Adaora can possibly be Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Don’t rule her out because she’s going to get the minutes to prove herself.”
Any thoughts on being picked fifth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll?
“That’s locker room stuff right there. A lot of it is due to the nature of how you vote. When the coaches voted in September, we voted on how we thought people would finish not who the five (or the six) best teams are. You vote on how you think the teams would finish; and, there’s no way you could list five teams in the (Big 12) South one through five. It’s impossible with the numbers.
“In the (Big 12) North, when you look at Iowa State and what Coach Fennelly (Bill Fennelly) has coming back and how good a coach he is, Iowa State might be picked to win it because it’s hard to beat them in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State used to be guard dominated; but, this season he’s got the post players to get it done. He’s going to have a lot of balance; and, obviously, he’s the best zone team in our league.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see Iowa State win it; but, hopefully, we’ll have something to say about that. I like my team. I like my chances; but, what we have to do is get off to a better start in the League than what we’ve done the last three years. We’ve lost to Kansas State (to start conference play) two years in a row. This year we start with Missouri; and, we don’t need to stumble there.”
posted by Kris G @ 10:33 AM
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