Hoop It Up! Part 2

Notre Dame Women's Basketball starts the 2011 season with big expectations and high hopes. After making it all the way to the National Championship Game in 2010 and losing to a powerful Texas A&M team, the Irish look to repeat last year's success and take home the championship crown themselves next year! There is a lot to be excited about in regards to this team, and I'm sure they cannot wait to hit the boards and prove that last year's success was not merely a fluke.

Quotes from Muffet McGraw, taken from the Notre Dame Athletics Web Site, www.und.com.

On an overview of the season...
"We're in uncharted territory this year. This is the first time we've had a very successful season, and we returned quite a few of our players. In 2001, we had a big senior class that graduated, so I'm interested to see how this team handles it. I loved the way we played and competed last season. We had a chip on our shoulders the entire season from the summer and preseason and then into practice. This year it's a different attitude. We know where we want to go, and there is a lot of intensity, but there is a big target on our backs that we have not had to handle too much in the past."

On Skylar Diggins' explosive play from the regular season to the tournament last year...
"She really did make a giant step forward in the tournament. It was amazing to see. I think it really started in the BIG EAST Tournament. She had a great year, did a lot of good things. That was the moment when she discovered what she could be as the point guard of our team. She can score, run the team, and pretty much everything she envisioned as her role coming into Notre Dame. She discovered that she was a lot more aggressive with the ball and attacked more. She played her game. She didn't worry about running the offense as much. She just reacted and played."

On using losing in the championship game as a chip on the team's shoulder...
"It definitely still hurts. I think that when we look at the last game, we decided then that we had to get ready for the next year. We've got some unfinished business is the way we're looking at it. It's a different type of chip on our shoulder. For the younger players, you come in as a freshman and make it to the final game, but they don't understand how hard that was for us to get there and what we put into the program for years before that. I think the incoming freshmen definitely don't know what it's going to be. Last year, it was a group all on the same page. We knew where we wanted to go. This year we've got the veterans at the top really pushing things, and the freshmen still wondering what the heck is going on."

On Skylar Diggins' improvement from last year to this year...
"I think the summer, with the (World University Games) Gold Medal game, she was able to play a little bit different role, where she didn't score as much. She did a lot more defensively and running the time. Leadership-wise, she has grown tremendously. It was a great experience for her, and they got to see things from other programs that made them feel better about the way we practice. I think they came back with renewed confidence and a greater incentive to play against others they played with this summer."

On the three returning All-Americans (Skylar Diggins, Natalie Novosel, and Devereaux Peters) losing their edge from collecting accolades...
"I'm not worried about that at all. I think they definitely still have the edge, and they're trying to get the rest of the team to get that edge. Right now, they're really intense at practice. We were intense last year too, but this year it's almost obsessive. You better get up on the same page right now, or you're going to get knocked down. They've really raised the intensity at practice. They know what they want, and they know what we're capable of."

On the impact Devereaux Peters can have this season...
"Devereaux has to be the most improved player in the country from freshman year to now. She has come light years since her injury, which obviously set her back. This is the first full year she has been healthy and what a difference it has made. She's the difference on our team. She's the player every team has to have. Most teams have more than one of her, so we're fortunate she can block shots, play defense, run the floor, and do so many things. She is just an incredible athlete and a potential WNBA draft pick. She is someone who is huge part of helping us making a giant leap to where we are today."

On Kayla McBride's potential...
"Kayla McBride could the most improved player in the BIG EAST this year. She had a tremendous start to her freshman year and is really playing tremendous basketball. It's going to be hard to keep her out of the starting lineup. She's one of the best players at practice. She's got great intensity. She's been scoring the ball incredibly well in so many ways. She could play point for us or really any position besides center. We're really looking to use her versatility in a lot of different ways, so we're expecting very big things from her."

On the goal of the team this year...
"I think you look at what we have, and obviously we want to compete for a national championship. That's got to be our goal. We're not going to win the national championship today. I think it's important for us to communicate to the team that each game is important, and that we need to take it one step at a time. We hope to be better in March. Looking at the way we're practicing right now, we need to be better in March."

On focusing on having fun during the season...
"I just really want to make sure the team enjoys the season. I think it was magical for us during our run last year because we enjoyed everything. I want to have that joy and keep that passion alive in them for us. When it gets to be pressure that we have to win, you can't play as well because you're not relaxed. For us, we've got to have that fun and joy of the game. I'm not sure if it's possible for me, but I think it's really important. You want to get into the season and celebrate the victories instead of being relieved that we won and did our job. I can help with that because I am a perfectionist, and I like to play well, so maybe I won't go into the locker room after games and let them celebrate on our own. That is going to be our challenge as coaches because we know we can be better and we have to balance that with having fun."

On controlling Skylar Diggins' rock star status and media frenzy...
"It's out of control. (laughter) It is something that we're always aware of. We try to talk with her about that. So far it has not been a problem. She handled it well last year, but it was late in the season. It can really be a drain on a person of that age because they're so young. She's probably going to be the face of women's basketball on ESPN. You're going to see her everywhere, and everyone is going to want a piece of her. She's constantly being called for interviews and appearances, so we're trying to keep that to a bare minimum by making her available once a week and not doing too many things outside of basketball. She is a great student, so we really want her to focus on basketball and academics before the other things. We don't have any particular strategy right now in terms of limiting her Facebook and Twitter, but if it gets to be a problem we'll definitely step in. We like to let them handle it and be adults. As long as you're handling it, I'm fine with it."

On the BIG EAST realignment talk and shifting the focus to basketball...
"At this time of the year, you just want to be in the gym with you team and that is all we want to focus on. We have BIG EAST Media Day next week, so we'll see where we're picked to finish, but that is probably the last time we'll talk about the league and where we are. It's definitely always in the back of your mind about what is going to happen, but right now we know we have a great conference and a great schedule."

On dealing with a target on their backs and being named a preseason No. 1...
"I've accepted it, but I don't read anything, so I don't know where everyone has us ranked. I'm sure that'll be announced at some point where we are in the USA Today poll, but I don't put a lot of stock in it. If I had to rank our team right now, I don't think I'd put us in the top 25. We've got a long way to go, and I think (the players) know that. We're trying to keep what the media prints far away from me."

Player quotes, via the Notre Dame Athletics Web Site.

Skylar Diggins • Junior • Guard

On how the team deals with outside factors...
"We can't focus on the outside stuff. The peripheral stuff has to be nipped in the bud when we go on the court. We have to focus on each other. I think the reason why we were so good last year was because not only our bonds on the court, but off the court strengthened our on-court bond. This team knows each other well. I feel like we know each other inside and out so that definitely is going to show on the court."

On Twitter and social media...
"I'm just trying to remain myself. I didn't get a Twitter (account) for notoriety. I got it to keep in touch with friends and now that I have more fans, I feel like it serves as a direct connection between my fans and I. You know, I am not able to talk to everyone, but I can choose who I can respond to."

Kayla McBride • Sophomore • Guard

On returning after a tough first year to help the team this season...
"I have a huge support system. I have my coaches, I have my family, I have all of these people around me; Notre Dame in general. That was a good background I had. I could lean on them whenever things like that did happen. It was a life lesson for me. What I took away from it was just personal things, like personal growth. It's really the only way to look at it."

Devereaux Peters • Fifth-Year Senior • Forward

On her leadership role this season...
"Well I feel as though I can finally have a say in things now that I've actually played an entire season, so I've been more vocal. (Coach McGraw) talked to me about talking a bit more this season since I have a bit more experience than any of the other post players, so I've tried to make that a role of mine."

On the expectations for the team this year...
"We like having these expectations. I think we showed at the end of the year last year that we can handle expectations so we enjoy it. It is definitely better than having zero expectations."

On all of the marquee games on the schedule this year...
"Those are the games that you live for when you play college basketball. You want to play the big games on the big stage, especially coming off of the season we had last year. It is just going to be really fun playing those big games against big time teams."

Natalie Novosel • Senior • Guard

On the team going into the season with a target on its back...
"It's very exciting. There is definitely some anxiety right now because I don't think we are ready yet, but that will take care of itself in practice. We are going to work hard and iron out everything, and make sure that we are ready for the season."

On if the team has talked about the possibility of winning a championship...
"We definitely have, and we are all very motivated to make that happen. It is going to take all of us (giving) a complete team effort every day."

Brittany Mallory • Fifth-Year Senior • Guard

On the team's mentality after coming so close to winning it all last season...
"I think we definitely have a big chip on our shoulder. Obviously our main goal was to win the national championship, and we didn't achieve that goal. We were in the game, but we didn't win it. We are doing everything we can to get back to the championship game and take it home with us this year."

On how Skylar handles the spotlight...
"I can't even tell that she is a big time name in college basketball. She is such a down-to-earth person. She is such a good person and such a good team player because she is always worried about the team, and what we are doing to improve our game. To be a great point guard you have to be unselfish, and that is her."

And there have it! Let's bring on the season and HOOP IT UP!!

Cheers!