Colorado University Athletics
Ceal Barry Quotes
Quotes from CU head coach Ceal Barry's teleconference:
ON BJORKLUND VS. TAYLOR MATCHUP - “I think the height that Tera is going to face will be a little bit different than what she sees in the Big 12. She’s used to bulk and getting beat up and pushed out on the block as far away as they can get her. The wing span and stature of Taylor is more like her style. (Taylor) moves very well, she’s mobile, she’s got nice range, she has an outside shot and can square up. But Kristen Mann is Kodak All Region in their region, which includes the PAC-10. We know it’s not just Lindsay Taylor. They’ve got some other really good players.
“To be honest with you, I think the committee thinks about that, and talks about that as they match teams up. They’re both back to the basket low block players. (Bjorklund) knows who she is, she knows what she does, and that’s her style. It’ll be an interesting matchup. I think it would be a little remiss if we didn’t count the other players on their team. I think with her being 6-8 she gets a lot of attention. But they’ve got a lot of good players.”
ON PRACTICE INTENSITY ? “We’ve got three players that play 40 minutes all the time, and I was very conscious of that in the Big 12 season in practices in terms of wearing out players that play 40 minutes a game two times a week. The one thing about getting knocked out by OU, I don’t have to worry about those three getting tired. We needed to get after it on the practice floor. They’ve been pretty intense.
“We’re up and down a little bit more in practice this week because I don’t have to worry about Kate and Tera and Randie playing 40 minutes today. I’m not as concerned about their legs, about them being fresh. We’ve only played one time in two weeks. We’ve been able to scrimmage a lot more.”
ON SANTA BARBARA ? “They play extremely hard, they play good pressure man-to-man defense, they post up strong, run their offense with great precision. They are very well coached. I also think they deserved a higher seed. I think is a really tough sub regional. This is not a cakewalk. It is not going to be easy on anybody. Two great games the first night.”
ON BOUNCING BACK? “They’re in the Big 12, and they know every game out is a battle. They didn’t like getting knocked out in their first game. We wanted to be there longer. We’re a mature team; they know if we don’t beat UCSB, their careers are over. I don’t have to worry about a sense of urgency, I never do. They went 11-1 in the non-conference, they won five road games in the Big 12 Conference, they are a mature group. They don’t overlook anybody. I don’t have to worry about it. The question is, are we good enough to go into Santa Barbara and beat them?
ON PLAYING AT THE THUNDERDOME - “I don’t think Tera, Randie, Kate, Veronica, those players that have been at Iowa State, at Kansas State, at Texas Tech, at a packed house, they’ve done it so many times. Last two times at Missouri it was packed. I don’t think the crowd will be in the top five factors of our concern. Our conference has more than prepared us for our first game. The question is, are we good enough to win.”