Colorado Media Day

Colorado head women's basketball coach Kathy McConnell-Miller and players met with local media members on Thursday to kickoff the 2008-09 season. Practice officially begins for the Buffaloes on Friday, Oct. 17 and CU will host an exhibition game against Regis University on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m. CU opens the regular season one week later, Sunday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m. against the University of Central Florida at Coors.

Here are quotes from coach Miller's media day press conference as well as those from select players:


Colorado Head Coach Kathy McConnell-Miller




General
"I feel like we are embarking on a season coming off a summer as strong as any summer I have been a part of. From a chemistry standpoint, you could see it in their eyes. They've bonded. It's a really exciting time for us. I'm excited about the season. I'm excited about the players we have returning. And I'm really excited about the three newcomers. Probably the smallest team (in terms of numbers) we've had since I've been here, but probably the most prepared team."

On Whitney Houston's Injury
"I am going to have my challenges this year with this particular group. We have been very post oriented for three years. Now we are extremely guard oriented. It hasn't taken long for the likes of Alyssa Fressle and Kelly Jo Mullaney to step up and show why they were such successful high school point guards. The challenge is going to be who fits that best and who fits it the quickest, and not pull them from what they do best. When you're a point guard, you really take on the mentality of leading the team. They both have those characteristics as well."

On A Different Offense
"You are going to see a lot of offensive sets that are really geared towards the guards, and getting them lots of shots, lots of looks. You're going to see a lot more perimeter scoring. But I think most everybody will be pleasantly surprised with Kara Richards. It's not that she was never skilled enough. But she truly was in Jackie (McFarland)'s shadow for three years."

On Alyssa Fressle Being Only Colorado Native
"It's always difficult to recruit your state. Having Alyssa we feel really opened the doors for the Colorado players. I think that changed things.."

On Alyssa Fressle's on Court Potential
"I always talk about Whitney Houston and Brittany Spears; they changed the culture of the team. They're the types of players that you can't get out of the gym. Alyssa is the same exact way. The culture of the team is really changing in that they are true lovers of the game. You want to recruit the whole package, the student-athlete. That's what Alyssa is. But her passion is basketball. She will wear the nets out. She will make it evident why she should be a starter, or why she should play thirty-five minutes a game, and why she should be a go to player."

On 11th place Preseason Poll Rating
"I really think those types of polls motivate the weaker athlete. I really think the stronger athletes don't need that type of motivation. They don't need that type of locker room material. They just look at it as one person's opinion, or as it is eleven people's opinion. (There was) little to no reaction when somebody brought it up yesterday, particularly from the younger players. It's a tough league. It doesn't matter who you have. It doesn't matter where you are. You have to bring your game every night."

On Rebounding With a Smaller Team
"It's something you really have to drill into your team. Taller teams aren't necessarily better rebounding teams. It's not always what you teach, it's what you emphasize. I think this particular group will understand that that's a priority for us."

On Momentum from WNIT
"I think they've all elevated their level of play. The success that they had gave them the confidence to go into this summer and know that they had another level. They know that their ultimate goal is to get to the NCAA tournament. They felt like they took the step that they needed, and now we need to take a bigger one."

On Leadership from Older Players
"If we're teaching something, you can see the older players on the sideline saying -this is how we need to do it, this is how we're going to get better. You can see that it's not just us leading. We've got players that have been through it, that have been battle tested, and show the younger players the way. Although some of these younger players- they're not asking too many questions. They're just getting out there. If they make a mistake, they make a mistake. They're battling, and trying to get better. If you're looking at our seniors, really good leaders, good strong young women that understand what the staff is all about, that understand the trials and tribulations of this program."

On Goals for this Season
"For the players, their ultimate goal is to get to the NCAA tournament. It doesn't matter how many wins it takes. There's not one team in this Big 12 that you can circle, and say that that's a 'W'. I looked at and said - Yeah there is, it's us- Colorado's the team that everybody else is circling. That's the way we felt four years ago. That's not the way we feel right now. We're not even close to that team. It is at a time in our program where these players step on the floor and their expectation is to win."




Colorado Players




Sr. C Kara Richards

ON THE SHIFT TO A GUARD-HEAVY, PERIMETER EMPHASIZED TEAM
"Not only is it just guard-oriented, but it's guards who know how to score."

ON OFF-SEASON TRAINING AND PREPARATION

"We've got this thing called the 'pain train,' and really it's about getting our mental toughness right. I think you're going to see a really mentally tough team this year."

ON TEAM STRENGTHS

"As a team, I think everybody knows how to score and that opponents can't sag off of any one player at all."



Sr. G/F, Hannah Skildum

ON OFF-SEASON TRAINING AND PREPARATION

"We worked really hard this summer getting into the best shape we can. Our strength coach (Jared Aurich) said that he wants us to be in the best shape out of any team in the Big 12. I think that especially training at altitude, that gives us a really big advantage. So I think we're going to run a lot of teams off the floor this year."

ON THE TEAM RANKING

"It doesn't really matter to us. We just go out there every day and play, and just take one game at a time."

ON EXPECTATIONS FOR THE FRESHMEN

"Our two freshmen are actually really mature compared to a lot of freshmen who have come in. I expect pretty big things from them. You kind of give a little lee-way with freshmen, but these freshmen are definitely capable of playing a lot and helping out our team a lot."



Jr. G. Bianca Smith

ON THIS YEAR'S BIGGEST CHANGES

"This year, we're a lot more 'guard-heavy,' and so I think some of our offenses are going to be different and geared more to a guard-heavy offense and keeping Kara as a post so she won't have to do that much roaming around the outside, and getting a lot of buckets inside while still remaining an inside-outside team."

ON TEAM THREATS

"You can't necessarily replace a player like Jackie [McFarland], but we are out of the mindset of having one person that's taking on the scoring load. We have a lot of people this year that can score. We just want to distribute the ball and get as many people to score as possible. I think that is one of our biggest threats. I think that a lot of people think that because we lost Jackie that our scoring is going to go down, but I think that the exact opposite is going to happen; we're going to have more scoring because we'll have more people on the floor that can score."

ON THE TEAM RANKING

"We're not motivated by the polls. We just want to go out and practice and work hard every day. Our motivation is each other and just trying to win games and to do better than we did last year and to keep getting better."