April 03, 2006
Texas A&M women's basketball coach Gary Blair recently visited with AggieAthletics.com about the historic season he guided the Aggies through. From finishing third in the Big 12 Conference to reaching the NCAA Tournament, Coach Blair reflects on everything. He reveals which team goal he wish he would have changed, and why he believes that La Toya Micheaux is the most improved player on the team. Blair also describes what he will do to help Morenike Atunrase become an All-American and tell who he wanted to hug when he saw Texas A&M's name appear for the NCAA Tournament.
What are you most proud of from this season?
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"I think finishing third in the Big 12 when people said it could not be done because of how strong the Big 12 south was. When you start the year with four teams in the top 20 in the Big 12 south and you are able to move up that ladder. We moved up more than people moved down. Our goal was to make the NCAA Tournament. On our team goals, we hit every one of our goals that's in our player notebook. Every goal was hit. I should have put down to at least win one game in the NCAA Tournament, but I didn't. I said to make the NCAA Tournament. When you finish third in the Big 12 the NCAA Tournament comes automatically."
Did you consider the goals you set before the season reasonable at the time or easily achievable?
"I thought they were reasonable, but not easily achievable, just due to the talent that was in our league. We stayed relatively healthy, where a couple of other teams in our league did not stay healthy. You can still win if you are not healthy. Sometimes I think teams let injuries get into the psyche of their team. That's something you just can't do. Even if we would have had a few injuries, our depth was so good I think we could have handled injuries better than some of the teams in our league."
You mentioned health as a key factor, were there other things that come to mind as reasons for your success?
"When we came here we had a game plan and the game plan was recruiting first. I think we have done that particularly with two top 20 classes in our first two years. We just didn't bring in top 20 classes, we said those two top 20 classes were going to play right away. We were the youngest team in the NCAA Tournament. We were the youngest team in a power conference. We started no juniors or seniors.
"As a coaching staff, we had to maintain the chemistry of our team to achieve that. We needed help from our seniors Erica Roy and Tweety (Tamea Scales) to handle that. We felt like to build this thing where in years to come we'll be in Sweet 16s and Elite Eights and Final Fours, we had to make that hard call. Sometimes seniors make less mistakes than your other kids. But we are building for the future and the future was to play the young kids early.
"At the same time, my coaching staff did an outstanding job teaching the kids before we would allow them to play. Yeah, we made tremendous mistakes during the season and during games, but at the same time we didn't let the mistakes completely destroy the kid. We always had an answer, we could sub out or we could correct the mistakes before the next ballgame.
"Just the improvement of these kids particularly the improvement of (La Toya) Micheaux was tremendous during the year. I think she ended the year probably as one of the four best defensive post players in the Big 12. What we have to do is build on that.
"How we ended the year with Danielle Gant. Inch for inch, there isn't a better rebounder in the league than Danielle Gant. We know now what we need to do to increase her game. I'm not sure there wasn't a better six man in the league. I know she's the best six man on our team."
What is the future for Danielle Gant?
"I think her future is to be a prolific power forward, a three-player in our league. Now that's kind of hard knowing that's where Morenike Atunrase plays. What we might have to do more of a four-out offense to be able to utilize their strengths instead of running the high-low offense. That way we could flip Danielle or Morenike into that four spot and people would not know if it was the three or the four. That's the versatility that we have. It just gives you options."
What are your off-season objectives for La Toya Micheaux?
"She came in as a freshman and realized what her strengths were and what her weaknesses were and we worked on them. She's the most improved player on our basketball team. Even though it might show it in production on the offensive end. Her hands are a lot better since she first got here. The most you ever improve is between your freshman and sophomore years. It's going to be up to her because she is going to have more challenges next year because (Ashlaa) Horton can play the five. Lenka (Zimova) is going to be a whole lot better at the five. And we have (Damitria) Buchanan coming in who could also play the five. She knows this summer that she has to elevate her game to the next level. By the time she graduates, double-double should be her middle name. Until then, we have to improve shot selection and we've got to improve just the mechanics of being an offensive player."
Evaluate what Takia Starks did for this basketball team...
"Very, very few freshmen I've had through the years have come in and been as efficient as quietly as she has. I've had kids come in and get 21 point games and then four or six points the next game. But T-Kay just kept putting up the numbers, the numbers, the numbers. Then as the season went on, particularly the second half of the season, her percentages went down because team's put so much pressure on her. She became the number one person to stop. She had to learn to create more off the dribble. I just see her stock going way up this next year. She'll have a little bit more competition with (Adrian) McGowen coming in. At the same time, when you are a top 25 team you are going to have competition."
Describe the impact of your team captains Morenike Atunrase and A'Quonesia Franklin...
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"As the year went on they learned how to be more verbal leaders. Early on they felt it was an obligation to be a captain instead of realizing what a captain can do. I would always mention to Aqua, look at Ivory Latta (of North Carolina) in her junior year and what she's doing. (Latta) leads by example and she's not afraid of making mistakes. She's always smiling and encouraging. As a result (Latta) became the face and the identity of what North Carolina basketball was all about. At times during the year, I think Aqua was doing the same things for us.
"I think Morenike has got to learn to have a little more consistency. Normally her consistency comes from the right side of the stat sheet on assists, blocks, steals, and turnovers.
"I just got finished sitting on the Kodak All-American committee. The first thing I'm going to do when I get back (from the Final Four in Boston) is I'm going to show her what the stats of the elite players are all about. That means she's going to need a better shooting percentage. She's got to get to the free throw line more. For a player with her jumping ability, she needs to be averaging about seven rebounds a game instead of a little bit over four. Her steals need to increase. As she gets better with her ball handling, I think she'll have more confidence to be that leader or go to. If you are an All-Big 12 first teamer, more is expected of you off the floor and on the floor. When you could see the tears coming out of her eyes after that (TCU) loss, I mean it hurt. She knew she didn't give her best game out there. She gave us the run to get back in the ball game, but then she couldn't finish the game at the end. She needs to be the type of player that can hit some of those game tying shots or game winning shots. I think that will come with maturity."
What kind of challenges were there for the coaches when 73 percent of the team was in their first or second year with the program?
"The one big area we have to improve on is our player's knowledge of the game. Just knowing the game better and use the talent that they have. And that comes from just watching or knowing or asking questions or game film or being more efficient in our offseason training. I think with us going to Europe this summer, that's going to be a plus knowing all our top kids are back. We'll take everyone but the seniors that just left and the incoming freshmen. I don't think the jobs are necessarily won before you go into the season, but I think our team realizes that if I can sit two seniors on the bench after they had been two-year starters, I can do it again. The urgency of those sophomores who are going to be juniors realize they need to elevate and be the Ivory Latta (North Carolina), be the Candice Parkers (Tennessee) of the world. And do it in a different way than just coming out of high school and being a Parade All-American. They can become an All-American once they come to college like what a Sophia Young (Baylor) has done."
Describe your feeling when you found out that Texas A&M had returned to the Associated Press Top 25 after a 10-year absence...
"We got in, we got out, and earned our way back in. That was even more satisfying. A lot of teams get in for a week or two, and then when the schedule doesn't work their way they're out and you never hear from them again. We earned our way in, went out, and earned our way back in and stayed in. That's important to this team. That's important for the psyche of this team. They want to start the year there next year and then be able to finish the year there."
Are there two or three significant events that you look back on as special parts of the season?
"Coming back from Hawaii where we had lost a couple of games that I thought we had chances to win and then being able to play a Washington here, I thought we answered the bell and totally dominated the game. I could see right then that we were just not a team that could just play well and pull and upset, but when you can dominate a team for 40 minutes, that added a lot to it. I think as the season went on, even when we won the Rice game by one and didn't play our best, we found a way to get the job done. That gave us the momentum to go in to the Oklahoma State game.
"I think in the conference to beat the north like we beat the north, we went into each of those ball games knowing that we had to win because we knew how tough the south was. So our game plan was to go in and play the games like conference championships. We stepped our style of pressure defense in those ball games and each game plan was different, but it still involved pressure defense whether full or half court. To go 6-0 and 3-0 on the road, I think said a lot for our team. The closest game was nine points if I'm correct.
"Then being able to play Texas Tech and Texas and win three out of four and lose the other one by just a point. And we probably could have won that one too, but I don't think we were ready. Winning the next three (against Texas Tech and Texas) gave us instant credibility with the Texas high school coaches. We can beat the north all we want, but until you go up against the teams you are going to have to beat on the recruiting trail, that's where the respect comes. We earned that respect this year. Now what we have to do is maintain it.
"The end of the year we played up and down, even in the conference tournament. But to make the NCAA Tournament, knowing going in that we were not the bubble team after going 11-5 in the third best conference this year as far as RPI and not do it with a bunch of one point wins, I think that added a whole lot."
Describe selection Monday and what you were feeling when you saw Texas A&M's name appear on the screen...
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"I wanted to just go out and hug all the Aggie fans who started with us. I could probably all call them by their first name, but at the same time there were a lot of those people that started with us that was very special. They believed in us. I think it was just as much fun for them. Our administration believed in us to bring us here. Those are the ones that I wanted to just say hey, thanks for being there. The Aggies are the most appreciative people I've ever seen in my life. They would just keep thanking you and thanking you. Not saying "great win," or something like that. They would say thanks for bringing our program not to just respectability, but up to that next level where we could compete. We could go into any ball game and people across the nation would look and say hey, there is A&M. Being here at the Final Four (in Boston), I had no idea how much we were watched on TV until I talked to the coaches up here. Having those three or four games on in a row on national TV right there in the heart of the season, that was huge. That's where we got a lot of our national respect."
How many teams do you think played in five different time zones this season like A&M did?
"I think the main thing on the time zones, it didn't matter much because I was always up. Either watching film or not sleeping too well or whatever. This is a nation's team. Aggies are everywhere. Being able to take our show on the road from Hawaii to Trenton, New Jersey to wherever else we played or where we'll play next year. We have a chance to become the fastest growing sport at Texas A&M as far as attendance and as far as productivity because we had probably the furthest to go. As a result, I think it's just going to catch on. All I can do is dream about what could have been if we could have played like we were supposed to against TCU and gotten everybody behind us."
What does your program need to take the next step?
"I still think it would be nice to have that player coming out of high school that is already the Cadillac. The one that everyone in the nation already knows about. The one that is going to bring other great players with her. We're on those kids for the '07 class. I think that's what you have for the elite teams. Other than that we have the same type of players that we have developed on our team like Morenike (Atunrase), Aqua (Franklin), T-Kay (Starks), Gant, Micheaux, but they've got to have that elite mentality and those expectations. They have to demand it of each other in the summer. They've got to be playing pick-up every day without an excuse. That's what it's going to take to get to that next level and not be satisfied. We don't want to be patted on the back anymore. Basically we want people to expect that out of us going into the season. I want expectations to be higher. I don't want to be picked seventh this year and finish third."
What can the fans expect from Gary Blair and Texas A&M next season?
"A hungrier team than they've ever seen before because now we have tasted it. Knowing our schedule, and it's not finished yet, but we know we've got to go to Washington. We've got to go to Rice. We've got West Virginia to play in the Loyola Marymount tournament in California with their best player back. We know how much more improved Oklahoma is going to be with their recruiting class. Baylor had a great class too. Those were two of the top five recruiting classes in the nation and they're coming into the Big 12 south. We can't rest on anything. We've got to become a smarter and a more efficient team at all times. In every area we will take our program from season tickets to summer camps, in every thing we do we have to improve. We don't want to be a one shot wonder."