Kevin McGuff and Jacy Sheldon Talk With The Media After USC Matchup
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00:00 but we expended so much energy that third quarter
00:02 getting back in the game that we didn't have enough to compete.
00:05 -Jaycee, for you, obviously, you look like you were back to yourself this year.
00:10 Obviously, you were doing injury last year, but just talk about how this group is different
00:14 and then what you need to learn from today to put you in a better position.
00:18 -Yeah, this group is a really special one. Like Coach said, we didn't come out
00:22 with energy like we normally do when ready to go, and they did, and they played a great
00:29 first two quarters, bit of rough span in the second quarter, and we can't do that.
00:33 We got to be better, and we'll be better, and we'll go back and watch the film and learn from
00:37 it, and I'll be better for sure. -The run that you make in the third
00:44 quarter, obviously, usually gets a foul trouble, but with your experience with Jaycee and how many
00:50 years you did, just how special. I mean, you're winning, but when you see the type of game that
00:56 she brings to the court and how she, I don't want to say she took over a game, but basically took
01:02 command of her troops, if you will, for a freshman. -Yeah, she's a great player, especially being a
01:06 freshman. That's really impressive. She had a great game, too, and that's, obviously, I don't
01:12 want to take anything away from her. That's amazing. We got to be better, too. We knew coming
01:16 in she was a great player, so moving forward, we'll get better. We're prepared. That's what
01:23 coach got us prepared. We just got to emphasize that we get out there, and that's on me and
01:27 getting them ready, too. -Coach, obviously, you last year, a lot from Cody, Celeste comes in,
01:33 has a lot of expectations. They obviously struggled. What do you need to do to help them
01:38 get better on some sides of the ball? They both did some good things defensively, but just
01:42 obviously, after they make their money, but to be better offensive players going forward?
01:46 -I told them in the locker room, I said, "Kena, I think when we watch the film, we're going to be
01:50 satisfied with the opportunities that we got this, but we've got to take advantage of them."
01:56 I think, certainly, Cody and Celeste will have shown their ability to that, and it just happened
02:01 today. I think that was a big key is that, I don't know, I think both teams really got pretty good
02:07 shots, and they took advantage of it way more than we did, and that was a big difference in the game.
02:12 -I want to ask, a lot of teams don't start the season playing some of the high levels. That's
02:17 right. A lot of teams will ease into their season. How is this going to help you guys going down
02:21 there? You started with such a tough task right off the bat in a place that's far away from home
02:25 to prepare you. You guys go into a season with a lot of expectations.
02:30 -We get the benefit of learning a lot about our team, what we did well, and certainly,
02:36 more importantly, what we didn't do well, and where we need to focus our energy and attention
02:41 in terms of improvement. You don't miss that if you're playing easy games.
02:46 -I like to challenge our team. I think ultimately, if we learn from this and use this experience
03:01 the right way, it will help us. -What about your coach?
03:06 -She's a great player. She's a unique player because you don't see many people with the
03:12 combination of size, length, skill, and athleticism. You usually see people have the size and the skill,
03:21 but their athleticism isn't there or they're athletic and they're long, but their skill isn't
03:27 quite there. She's got a good feel for the game too, which is that. That's not easy to do on day
03:32 one of college. She's got a chance to be a really special player in the future.
03:38 -Coach, how did you feel about your press? How did you feel about the way they handled it?
03:42 -It was very spotty at best. I don't think that's a big part of our identity. When you press,
03:50 it's an all or nothing thing. You're all in and it's got to be effective. It's going to wear on
03:55 you. The team you're half in and it picks you apart. It was not as effective as it's been in
04:00 the past for us today. I think partly because our energy wasn't there and they did it really
04:06 well. Just staying nice and handling the pressure.
04:08 -Any other in-person questions? We have a couple people locally on Zoom.
04:15 Any Zoom questions?
04:17 -Hey, JJ. I have a question about the third quarter. You were able to slow down Rye Marshall
04:23 a little bit after having a really good first half of the quarter. Can you take anything positive
04:30 from then seeing, okay, what worked defensively that you were able to maybe slow her down a
04:35 little bit? -I think that we did a lot of good things in the third quarter. We made it really
04:43 in the second quarter. She killed us and made us pay. We quit turning the ball over, which means
04:48 she wasn't in those pick six turnovers in the middle of the floor. That was a big part of it.
04:54 When we did press, we stayed more organized because they were throwing it over top and
04:58 she was getting left. I think in general, what we learned in the third quarter is that for us to be
05:06 who we're capable of being, it's all in, locked in physically and maybe playing just as hard as we
05:12 possibly can, which we did in the third quarter, but we did in the second. -Also, question,
05:17 JC, for you playing alongside Celeste. It's a really tough situation for her because she's
05:22 playing. She comes from Duke where she's running the show and now she's coming here. How difficult
05:26 is that transition and what do you see that she brought positively on the court today? -She's a
05:32 great player, a lot of fun to play with. She does everything for us. She scores it. Obviously,
05:38 you guys know about her on defense. She's ridiculous and her pressure and her ability to disrupt teams
05:44 is helping us out a ton. She's fun to play with. She's easy to play with. She's a winner. She's
05:50 going to make us better and she's going to make us better in the game too. -Kevin, there were a
05:56 lot of big minutes that Diana Collins got. What have you seen from her that had you come in and
06:02 for her being able to step into that situation? What did you make of her time today? -Yeah, no,
06:07 she's got a very bright future. She's a really talented player. She's had good experience
06:12 playing with the Swedish national team. She's good at both things on the floor too. She can defend.
06:18 She's also a good offensive player. I think the more we invest in her early in this season,
06:23 she's going to make significant improvements and really impact our team this year.
06:27 -Anybody else? -I was going to say, Kevin and JC, you guys were kind of shooting a lot of
06:41 threes, especially in the first half and some of them weren't following, especially in second
06:45 quarter. When you move on from an elite three-point shooter like Taylor Mikesell,
06:49 who do you look to now to fill that spot? -I think it's sort of a collective effort from our team,
06:59 but I think the biggest thing in the second quarter is we had too many threes in a row.
07:04 We weren't getting balance in the offense. When we got into the second half, I thought we got the
07:08 right distribution of shot around the rim and open threes. In general, over the course of the game,
07:15 we just didn't take advantage of the opportunities we got. USA did. That was a big key in this game.
07:20 -Thomas, were you going to say one more thing? -I was going to ask, first thing,
07:30 a shoot-a-mate wasn't available today. Was that due to injury? -Yes, she got an injury.
07:37 Nothing long-term. I'd say a week to 10 days. -Also today, with the play of Cody,
07:43 they were packing it into the paint. They were making it really difficult on her.
07:46 Do you think not having maybe someone like a shoot-a-mate, somebody on the edge who can
07:52 maybe hit a three, does that really help Cody? Do you think that was a problem today with
07:56 why she was maybe not as effective offensively? -Certainly, if Tim is out there and she's making
08:01 shots, it definitely allows the rest of the team to play in better space. That's a big
08:07 key for us. I had the right shots in the second half, and some of them just didn't go in. I've
08:14 actually got a lot of really good ones. She'll make those moving forward. She can do that.
08:19 It just didn't fall today. -Thank you.
08:24 -Got it. -Everybody good?
08:26 Thank you, everybody. -I just have one more question.
08:31 I just want to ask both of you, we saw a lot of Ricky last season. She set a really big
08:36 break both ways. In this first game, she had a little less than 20 minutes. Do you expect
08:43 to see a little bit more of her, especially on the defensive end?
08:46 -She'll play a role, something similar to today. It may be more game to game. We adjust our
08:56 lineups and went a little smaller today. In those games, she may play a little bit more
08:59 because just to have more guards on the floor. She's got a lot of great experience over her
09:05 career. She'll find her way out there. I think she'll have a really positive impact this year.
09:10 -Thank you. -Thanks, everybody.
09:15 -Thanks. -That was rough.
09:17 -Yes. -Thanks, everybody.