March 24, 2011
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Sydney Colson, Sydeny Carter, & Maryann Baker [mp3] |
HEAD COACH Gary Blair
Opening statement
“This basketball team has worked very hard for this moment, but instead of enjoying the moment, you have to seize the moment and make sure it doesn't pass you by. Because technically, all we've done is hold serve. We've gotten to where we're supposed to be and now the problem is getting to that Elite 8. My record against Andy Landers is probably about 1-10, it might be two. He has held the upper hand, but of course, when he held the upper hand, he had the better team.
On coaching against well established coaches...
“If seeds hold, then I'll have to go through six Hall of Fame coaches. This is what excites you as a coach. You can pull for upsets, but when you can go against people in your field that you've studied, that you've talked to, that you recruit against, they're at the highest level. It's like a football coach going against a Lombardi or a Landry. This is the fun part, you do not forget this.”
On playing in Dallas...
“It's just good to be back home at a closer distance, and also it gives us a chance to build up a fan base in the state of Texas. We've got a national following as far as former students. We have to have that Texas following, of people getting in their cars and driving to Seattle and Trenton, New Jersey.”
On getting fans to the Dallas area...
“We're the Aggie team that's trying to win a national championship, just like our men's track team that almost won a championship here. It's going to take the former Aggie students up in the Dallas area to make sure that Baylor does not outdraw us.”
On Sydney Colson's play...
“You noticed in the McNeese State game, she got one foul and I took her out, because I knew that I had the better team and I could afford to take her out right at that moment and hopefully she would get a little bit smarter and realize we need her for 35 minutes. Colson sees the floor as well as any kid I've ever seen. She can penetrate and the majority of the time, she can get out of trouble. She is the most excitable point guard off the floor that I've ever had.”
On Maryann Baker's play...
“Maryann ... what a great senior year. She received the (Big 12's) Sixth Man Award, she's played hot and cold sometimes, but she knows the game as well as the coaches. She's my first sub going in every ballgame.”
On Sydney Carter's play...
“If I had to lose one Sydney, which would you have picked to stay? That's hard. My best defensive player, a kid that never quits, or the point guard that you know will win for you. That would've been a tough choice. Thank goodness I didn't have to make up my mind then.”
JUNIOR GUARD Sydney Carter
On the fan support moving into the Sweet 16...
“I think that our fans, they travel okay, but I think having fans there has a lot to do with how we feed off of the crowd and how we play. So I'm glad we're going back home, because we'll have a lot of fans there. I know Mary and I have a lot of people coming, so the fan support will definitely play a big role in how we're going to play and what kind of energy we'll have out there when the crowd gets into the game.”
On playing with Sydney Colson...
“I'm always expecting the ball from Sydney, all the time. I just think that we have such good chemistry out there, but I'm always the one who's running with Sydney, so I'm making sure that I'm always ready to receive the ball because I know it's coming. I know she likes passing and trying to get us moving.”
On playing at home versus playing on the road...
“It's in the back of your mind that you want to play well in front of everyone there, but I think that we need to be focused on playing for each other out there because it's not about playing for those people in the stands. We're playing for our teammates and that's our main goal out there.”
On defining moments this season...
“I think when we came back from Christmas Break and went into the San Diego Tournament, it was our first or second game, I think we ended up holding San Diego State to 14 points in a half. I think once we realized that we can put defense and offensive together and not just be an offensively-minded team, we realized that we could be capable of so many things this year.”
SENIOR GUARD Sydney Colson
On things that need to be improved on...
“I think there's always stuff that you can improve on. There are a lot of things that we did well, and there are times that you see we've improved on things as the season has gone by, and right now is the perfect time for us to be starting to peak and playing well together.
“Things we can still work on ... help defense sometimes, when people are driving into us. We can do a better job at taking away what teams try to do, not letting them get into their offense, getting our post players up to the top of the key, things like that. But other than that, there are a ton of things we've improved on and if we play how we did these first two games in the games we have coming up, we can potentially do the same thing. We're not taking any team lightly, but focus that we had in these first two games have helped us a lot, because we were determined to get something done and we did it.”
On facilitating and creating on the court...
“I know that that's my job out there, but a lot of times he really wants it to happen when a play is broken down or something like that, just get the ball back and make something happen. I know I'm good at penetrating and finding other people. I don't think I go into another mode, it's not a switch or something, but that's something I can do a better job of though.”
Do you take pride in your ability to create...
“Yeah, I like being able to penetrate and find people and being able to make something happen out of nothing.”
On possibly getting to the Final Four...
“Our first year when I was here, we were with the first team that really started it off for A&M. Getting to the Elite Eight with that group and playing Tennessee was such a huge deal and it was on such a big stage, so being able to go to the Final Four would be awesome.”
Was that team that got to the Elite Eight better than this team...
“I think it's different, because that team was so good at defense, but I also feel like we've had so many offensive threats in each season after that.”
On things that stick out about this season...
“I think when we won at Iowa State that was a big deal for our program, just because it hadn't been done yet. When we were going into that game, and playing in that arena, it was a tough atmosphere. We went in there two years ago and got beat by like 15, so it was an intimidating atmosphere.”
On Danielle's versatility and three-point shooting...
“It helps out a lot, Danielle is such an offensive threat. I mean people know what she can do, but it's still pretty hard to stop. I think we she gets it set in her mind that she can go off on a team it's pretty hard to stop her.”
SENIOR GUARD Maryann Baker
On being relaxed going into the Sweet 16...
“We're just excited, we're confident knowing that we have the upper hand in both games. We know we have to play the first one to get to the second one, but we're confident. I know our coaches are confident going into Georgia. We're not taking them lightly. Obviously they're a good team.”
Georgia on your mind...
“Definitely, it's just like the Big 12 Tournament. We had to beat two teams before we could get to Baylor, and it ended up happening, so you can see in the future what you can do as a team and it makes you that much more focused on the task at hand. I don't know much about Georgia, but obviously they're a good team if they made it to the Sweet 16 and beat a 3 seed. Like I said, we're the two seed so our motto this year is to take care of business, so that's our goal. “
What would getting a couple more wins mean to you...
“It would be awesome, that what we've set our goal as all along, to get to the Final Four and to be able to get up to Dallas would top everything off. I think we're very focused, it's a lot of talk right now, but we think we can do it; it'd be amazing.”
On Sydney Colson's play...
“I think that she's obviously a good point guard. I think this year she's focused a lot on her assists and obviously we try to finish off those passes. I think sometimes she's a little too unselfish, I think she can finish more in the lane, so maybe she'll do that in the next few games and I think it can make her more of an offensive threat.”