03-28-2013, 11:13 AM
Notes from Tara's March 27 press conference
The reporters asked repeatedly about Georgia and its style. Tara described it as an "aggressive, athletic defense." She said their style was similar to Tulsa, South Carolina, Colorado, with a few similarities to Tennessee, Arizona State, and UCLA. They "get up in your grill" and try to deny passing lanes. Not lost on her was Georgia's turnover ratio, 7th best in the country.
She said that Amber and Sara "like to play against that style." Sara and Chiney were at the conference, and Sara preferred games that were not called tightly. That makes sense given that she kept her hands all over Thompson while guarding her.
When asked about preparation, she said that teams at this stage of the year do not suddenly alter their style. Each team figures out what the other likes to do on offense and tries to make it hard for them to do it. On offense, we will probably not come up with brand new plays but will reach back and find plays that we have practiced before that are more likely to work against Georgia.Â
On defense "We have an excellent idea of what Georgia likes to do."Â Tara said that Andy is still using some of the same plays that he used 20 years ago when we faced him--they are good plays.
Beyond this, there was not a lot of substance at the press conference. I got the feeling from Tara and Chiney and Sara that there is a lot of quiet confidence. There is no looking past Georgia--everything is focussed on them. They can still ride the shock of the Tulsa half to motivate players to be ready from the start. And what our shooters (besides Chiney) needed more than anything was a shot of confidence so they would shoot the ball more often when open, and they got that.
"Be strong with the ball" was the phrase I heard all three use. They are preparing for a physical battle. Tara noted that the character of the game will be affected by how it is called, but the seeds have been planted that at least some of our players (Sara, Amber) like wrestling matches just fine, so it will be nothing to be scared of if it happens.
The reporters asked repeatedly about Georgia and its style. Tara described it as an "aggressive, athletic defense." She said their style was similar to Tulsa, South Carolina, Colorado, with a few similarities to Tennessee, Arizona State, and UCLA. They "get up in your grill" and try to deny passing lanes. Not lost on her was Georgia's turnover ratio, 7th best in the country.
She said that Amber and Sara "like to play against that style." Sara and Chiney were at the conference, and Sara preferred games that were not called tightly. That makes sense given that she kept her hands all over Thompson while guarding her.
When asked about preparation, she said that teams at this stage of the year do not suddenly alter their style. Each team figures out what the other likes to do on offense and tries to make it hard for them to do it. On offense, we will probably not come up with brand new plays but will reach back and find plays that we have practiced before that are more likely to work against Georgia.Â
On defense "We have an excellent idea of what Georgia likes to do."Â Tara said that Andy is still using some of the same plays that he used 20 years ago when we faced him--they are good plays.
Beyond this, there was not a lot of substance at the press conference. I got the feeling from Tara and Chiney and Sara that there is a lot of quiet confidence. There is no looking past Georgia--everything is focussed on them. They can still ride the shock of the Tulsa half to motivate players to be ready from the start. And what our shooters (besides Chiney) needed more than anything was a shot of confidence so they would shoot the ball more often when open, and they got that.
"Be strong with the ball" was the phrase I heard all three use. They are preparing for a physical battle. Tara noted that the character of the game will be affected by how it is called, but the seeds have been planted that at least some of our players (Sara, Amber) like wrestling matches just fine, so it will be nothing to be scared of if it happens.