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 Joe McKeown talks about GW's matchup with Tennessee at press conference |
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Women's Basketball Quotes Before GW vs. Tennessee Game on Tuesday at 7PM
March 20, 2006
2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship
Norfolk First and Second Rounds • Ted Constant Convocation Center • Norfolk, Virginia
Monday, March 20, 2006
George Washington Quotes
Joe McKeown, George Washington Head Coach
Opening statement
"Basically we think it's going to be a big game tomorrow night. We're excited about the matchup, and that we're playing traditionally one of the greatest programs in college basketball. I think its good for us that we played Tennessee in early December. It was a terrific game at George Washington. I thought Tennessee in the last six or seven minutes took over the game, but we had played really well until that point. Tomorrow night there is a little bit more at stake. The biggest key for us is going to be trying to counter their size, and trying to find ways to score."
On playing a different Tennessee team than earlier in the year:
"I think both teams are different. I looked at the tape last night of those games, and we both have different lineups. Tennessee is a little different team now, as they have kind of reinvented themselves. I think it will be a much different kind of game than we saw in December. There's an excitement about this game, and I think it helps that we played them earlier this year. We don't want to get caught up in playing against the uniform, we want to go out and play the players. They have such great tradition with six national championships. But we're proud of our tradition having been to 13 NCAA tournaments, and we have tough kids who I don't think are going to back down tomorrow."
On how GW has evolved since last meeting:
Kim Beck, Sophomore Guard: "The presence of Jessica and Jasmine has really grown since December. They both are getting more minutes."
On the play of Kim Beck:
Coach McKeown: "She is one of the top point guards in college basketball and she is only a sophomore. I think a lot of people nationwide just maybe don't realize how good she is. I call her Cal Ripken because sometimes she plays 40 minutes a game. The one thing that stands out about Kim to me is that she shows up bigger in big games. The bigger the stakes are, the more she kind of shines. She has just had a tremendous year for us.
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On Tennessee's Candace Parker:
Coach McKeown: "The first time we played her, she would shoot within the flow of the offense. If the ball came to her she would shoot, and if it didn't someone else would shoot. It seems to me she is much more aggressive offensively looking to shoot the ball from different spots on the floor. She seems to have expanded her range."
On adapting to Tennessee's versatile offense:
Jessica Simmonds, Forward: "We know we have a lot of speed so we can adapt to them and take them off the dribble. We need to play them straight up inside because they have a height advantage. I think we are making better adaptations now to them."
Sarah Jo Lawrence, Forward: "At the beginning of the season when we played them, they tried playing more guards that liked to take you off the dribble, and now they've got shooters that we are going to have to adapt to."
