Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
Schaefer, Danberry Hold Season-Opening Press Conference
November 07, 2019 | Women's Basketball
by Josh Lively, Assistant Director/Communications
STARKVILLE -- Mississippi State women's basketball head coach Vic Schaefer and graduate guard Jordan Danberry spoke with the media on Thursday afternoon to preview the 10th-ranked Bulldogs' season-opener against Southern Miss on Saturday.
The game will tip at 2 p.m. in Humphrey Coliseum and will be broadcasted on the SEC Network +. Here's everything Schaefer and Danberry said during their press conference.
Vic Schaefer
Opening statement
"It's game week. Our opener is here whether you are ready or not, you better try to be ready on Saturday. Southern Miss is coming in, and it's an annual game for us. I have so much respect and admiration for Joye Lee-McNelis and her program. She is a tremendous coach and competitor. You say one thing about her and know that she is a cancer survivor. I think that speaks for the competitor since you have to be tremendous competitor to beat that and she did. I have so much admiration for her. She is a great ambassador for our state and her university. I have a lot of respect for that program. I know they will be well prepared coming in here. It is always a tough game for us. Our kids will hopefully be ready. We have a lot of kids that haven't been in that game, so it'll be new for them. Their kids are playing extremely hard and will really challenge us and make us uncomfortable in some areas. We will have to be ready to play. Last year, Jordan Danberry graduated on Friday night, and we left here, and she got down there late and played on Saturday night. It was really a neat deal to have her playing with that graduate patch on her jersey, and she'll do that again this year."
Q: After looking at the film, was there anything from Lubbock Christian that stood out to you?
A: "Obviously, playing so many combinations, with so many young kids and so many inexperienced kids, even our sophomore class with Jessika Carter and Xaria Wiggins are inexperienced. They haven't played very many minutes when you look at things. We made a lot of mistakes. There is not enough time in the day to fix them all to be honest with you. It is going to be something that we'll have to continue to work on. We had a good practice yesterday. We will just have to continue to work on those things. It's all fixable, nothing terminal, but we have to go to work. A lot of it is communication and our inability to communicate with people and our teammates, especially defensively. Communicating on defense and talking has a calming effect on everybody, and it calms the coach, I can tell you. So, when you are not doing that, it's a struggle. I'm watching last year's film with them playing and how good they were defensively when they switched. There was not a lot of miscommunication going on. That is a big piece of some of our issues right now, and we have to fix that."
Q: What do you expect the atmosphere and the intensity of your team to be like since you are playing an in-state team?
A: "Well, I hope the intensity from my team is a little different than it was Monday night. The film doesn't lie. I think that is the one thing that jumped out on film for a lot of our kids was that we think we are playing hard, but the film doesn't show that. I am hopeful that since we don't have a football game Saturday, it is a two o'clock tip and the weather is supposed to be a tad bit chilly, people will come to The Hump and see our team play. We have sold over 6,000 season tickets, and I would hope we would have a great crowd for our opener on Saturday."
Q: Is Southern Miss different from the team you saw last year?
A: "They are more poised and more of a veteran group. The young kids they played last year are a year older and wiser. Again, Joye Lee and her staff do a tremendous job coaching them and I think they are going to be a lot better. We will have to play better. We are different, and they are too. Every game, I go back and look at the stats and the first one that jumps at me is Teaira McCowan only made five shots for 13 points, but she had nine offensive rebounds. This gives you extra possessions and her presence defensively causes so many issues. We did a great job taking care of the ball. It was probably our best job against them because they will press you. They will zone-press you, and they got after us in man-press last year. We really took care of the ball with only having eight turnovers. That is a recipe for success every night, if you are not going to turn the ball over. For us, that has been a focal point from day one, and we will have to do that again."
Q: What did you like from the look of a taller lineup?
A: "I don't think we drop off, and it gives us a chance to go get some of our misses. It is certainly a mismatch in size and especially when you can throw Rickea Jackson at three. We can run triple-post and do different things with a big lineup. Jessika has really developed her game to where she has that 15-footer, so you will have to come get her. If you are not going to come get her, good luck, because she is going to knock it down. She has the green light from me. So, I like that. Yesterday in practice, Rickea played really hard defensively, and I think she took what she saw in the film and went to the floor with it. Hopefully, we will have others do the same."
Jordan Danberry
Q: What's the feeling like to have the season come again and get to go out there again?
JD: "I'm excited. I'm glad that it's finally here. Sometimes, we look at games as a break from practice, so I'm excited to go out there and play in front of those fans. It's on a Saturday, so that will be good for me because my family gets to come down and watch me as well."
Q: We've talked a lot about how you feel about coming back and being able to play again, but Monday night was a chance for you to meet with some of the fans again. What have they been telling you and how happy do they seem to have you back wearing the Mississippi State logo again?
JD: "They're very excited. A lot of people have came up and told me that they're happy I'm back, and they like to watch me play. They're looking for me to be a leader this year as well as my coaches are expecting the same."
Q: How have you been able to help some of the younger guards figure out their roles in the preseason?
JD: "I just really communicate with them everyday and play as hard as I can, so that they can see It takes every to grind everyday to get to where we have been. I just really try to be that leader by example as well as vocally."
STARKVILLE -- Mississippi State women's basketball head coach Vic Schaefer and graduate guard Jordan Danberry spoke with the media on Thursday afternoon to preview the 10th-ranked Bulldogs' season-opener against Southern Miss on Saturday.
The game will tip at 2 p.m. in Humphrey Coliseum and will be broadcasted on the SEC Network +. Here's everything Schaefer and Danberry said during their press conference.
Vic Schaefer
Opening statement
"It's game week. Our opener is here whether you are ready or not, you better try to be ready on Saturday. Southern Miss is coming in, and it's an annual game for us. I have so much respect and admiration for Joye Lee-McNelis and her program. She is a tremendous coach and competitor. You say one thing about her and know that she is a cancer survivor. I think that speaks for the competitor since you have to be tremendous competitor to beat that and she did. I have so much admiration for her. She is a great ambassador for our state and her university. I have a lot of respect for that program. I know they will be well prepared coming in here. It is always a tough game for us. Our kids will hopefully be ready. We have a lot of kids that haven't been in that game, so it'll be new for them. Their kids are playing extremely hard and will really challenge us and make us uncomfortable in some areas. We will have to be ready to play. Last year, Jordan Danberry graduated on Friday night, and we left here, and she got down there late and played on Saturday night. It was really a neat deal to have her playing with that graduate patch on her jersey, and she'll do that again this year."
Q: After looking at the film, was there anything from Lubbock Christian that stood out to you?
A: "Obviously, playing so many combinations, with so many young kids and so many inexperienced kids, even our sophomore class with Jessika Carter and Xaria Wiggins are inexperienced. They haven't played very many minutes when you look at things. We made a lot of mistakes. There is not enough time in the day to fix them all to be honest with you. It is going to be something that we'll have to continue to work on. We had a good practice yesterday. We will just have to continue to work on those things. It's all fixable, nothing terminal, but we have to go to work. A lot of it is communication and our inability to communicate with people and our teammates, especially defensively. Communicating on defense and talking has a calming effect on everybody, and it calms the coach, I can tell you. So, when you are not doing that, it's a struggle. I'm watching last year's film with them playing and how good they were defensively when they switched. There was not a lot of miscommunication going on. That is a big piece of some of our issues right now, and we have to fix that."
Q: What do you expect the atmosphere and the intensity of your team to be like since you are playing an in-state team?
A: "Well, I hope the intensity from my team is a little different than it was Monday night. The film doesn't lie. I think that is the one thing that jumped out on film for a lot of our kids was that we think we are playing hard, but the film doesn't show that. I am hopeful that since we don't have a football game Saturday, it is a two o'clock tip and the weather is supposed to be a tad bit chilly, people will come to The Hump and see our team play. We have sold over 6,000 season tickets, and I would hope we would have a great crowd for our opener on Saturday."
Q: Is Southern Miss different from the team you saw last year?
A: "They are more poised and more of a veteran group. The young kids they played last year are a year older and wiser. Again, Joye Lee and her staff do a tremendous job coaching them and I think they are going to be a lot better. We will have to play better. We are different, and they are too. Every game, I go back and look at the stats and the first one that jumps at me is Teaira McCowan only made five shots for 13 points, but she had nine offensive rebounds. This gives you extra possessions and her presence defensively causes so many issues. We did a great job taking care of the ball. It was probably our best job against them because they will press you. They will zone-press you, and they got after us in man-press last year. We really took care of the ball with only having eight turnovers. That is a recipe for success every night, if you are not going to turn the ball over. For us, that has been a focal point from day one, and we will have to do that again."
Q: What did you like from the look of a taller lineup?
A: "I don't think we drop off, and it gives us a chance to go get some of our misses. It is certainly a mismatch in size and especially when you can throw Rickea Jackson at three. We can run triple-post and do different things with a big lineup. Jessika has really developed her game to where she has that 15-footer, so you will have to come get her. If you are not going to come get her, good luck, because she is going to knock it down. She has the green light from me. So, I like that. Yesterday in practice, Rickea played really hard defensively, and I think she took what she saw in the film and went to the floor with it. Hopefully, we will have others do the same."
Jordan Danberry
Q: What's the feeling like to have the season come again and get to go out there again?
JD: "I'm excited. I'm glad that it's finally here. Sometimes, we look at games as a break from practice, so I'm excited to go out there and play in front of those fans. It's on a Saturday, so that will be good for me because my family gets to come down and watch me as well."
Q: We've talked a lot about how you feel about coming back and being able to play again, but Monday night was a chance for you to meet with some of the fans again. What have they been telling you and how happy do they seem to have you back wearing the Mississippi State logo again?
JD: "They're very excited. A lot of people have came up and told me that they're happy I'm back, and they like to watch me play. They're looking for me to be a leader this year as well as my coaches are expecting the same."
Q: How have you been able to help some of the younger guards figure out their roles in the preseason?
JD: "I just really communicate with them everyday and play as hard as I can, so that they can see It takes every to grind everyday to get to where we have been. I just really try to be that leader by example as well as vocally."
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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