Kim Mulkey-Robertson Chat Wrap
12/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2000
Kim Mulkey-Robertson: Hi. I'm here. Hit me with your best shot.
Lambert Fan: I remember watching Sheila Lambert in high school and thinking she'd be big-time someday in a college program. What does she mean to your team this season, and what about her JC career caught your eye?
Mulkey-Robertson: Sheila can play anywhere in the country, and I firmly believe at the top schools as well. She's that talented. We're very fortunate to have her here, rebuilding our program. She played for Baylor assistant coach Bill Brock at Grayson County, where I believe she was his first two-time All-American there. She is a tremendous influence on this basketball team, and from the moment she arrived on campus, these kids knew how good she is and they're very appreciate that she turned down some other top programs to come here and help us rebuild. Some day, I hope we can say she is the first player from Baylor to play in the WNBA. She has the talent to do so.
Lynn: How do you fell about leaving Louisiana Tech and being at Baylor now?
Mulkey-Robertson: This issue has been addressed. There's nothing more I can say that hasn't already been discussed. Louisiana Tech will always have a special place in my heart. I'm from Louisiana, graduated from La. Tech. It was just time for a change, and I felt Baylor was the best place for me to be.
George: The team seems to have had some early foul trouble -- especially inside. Do you believe the team can continue this aggressive style of play and stay on the floor or will a tight game require some changes?
Mulkey-Robertson: I think depth helps all basketball teams when you get in foul trouble. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of depth. We have a freshmen post player out two months now with a stress fracture. So some kids who get into early foul trouble have had to stay on the floor. We will continue to be an aggressive team. Some kids are going to have to figure out how to play a longer time with 2 and 3 fouls. And I'm going to have to find a way to keep them in there, as well. It's something you have to do during the course of the game.
Sam: How difficult will it be to rebuild a program within the Big 12 Conference, having to face Iowa State, Tech, Oklahoma, Neb, and the Texas teams throughout the year ... where do you start?
Mulkey-Robertson: You start with building confidence in the players you've inherited. Then you try to get some good players in here, and better players to help them compete in the Big 12. It is a very tough conference to build in, but a very easy conference to recruit to. You can also let your recruits know they have a good chance to play immediately. And, there's the education they'll receive from coming to Baylor. Rebuilding is tough, but it has been proven it can be done. Look what Sherri Coale has done at OU, what Vivian Stringer has done at Rutgers. It can be done. It won't happen overnight, but it can be done.
KW: I'm sure your goals include winning a national championship as a head coach ... will that be possible at Baylor and if so, how long do you think it will take to take the program to that level?
Mulkey-Robertson: I think any coach will tell you they have aspirations of national championships, which I've been part of as a player and coach. But you have to start like you do with a baby -- crawl before you walk, set realistic goals. I don't think I have a timetable on a goal like that. I'm not even thinking about a goal like that for the next couple of years. We need a Big 12 title, our first NCAA bid. You have to set realistic goals and go from there. Our immediate goal is to compete in the Big 12, compete with the top 5 or 6 to get an NCAA bid. I don't think when Geno took over at UConn that he could tell you he was going to win a national championship after 5-6 years.
KW: What do you suggest for someone who wants to get into becoming a part of a collegiate staff, but the only experience she has is playing in high school and being a graduate assistant for two years at a division III school?
Mulkey-Robertson: You need to network yourself, work camps, befriend coaches in the business and you will get that opportunity. If you look across the country in men's and women's games, the asst. coaches have come from all facets of life. Put yourself in a position to know people and let them know what kind of work ethic you have.
Dallas Bear: So far BU is off to a great start at 5-0, absolutely destroying opponents. What has been the biggest key in turning around this team from last year?
Mulkey-Robertson: We're 5-0 now, but let's be honest. We haven't played top-25 caliber talent. The teams we're playing are good teams, and we're a better basketball team than the Baylor of old. For one, we've brought in new kids, have new faces on the floor. We have a new staff, maybe a rejuvenated team who buys into the system. We're pushing the ball up the floor and running more with some athletic m we maybe didn't have in the past. We've very proud of our 5-0 start, but we know what lies ahead is much tougher.
Our strengths right now are ... we're getting more production offensively from 3-4 players night in and night out. That's a plus. Another strength is that we have some athletes who can defend man-to-man and mix up our defenses some. So athleticism in paint and perimeter, and production from players other than Sheila Lambert, are our strengths.
Our weakness is we need to continue to become a better rebounding team. We're outrebounding our opponents right now, but in the Big 12, we must do better and get some help from our guards.
Keith: With the recent game where the Tennessee player broke loose and dunked the ball, do you think that is good for the game? That play is getting publicity, when really that is not why people are fans of women's basketball.
Mulkey-Robertson: I've watched it very closely from people's perspective, the good and the bad. Listen. My opinion is how can that be bad? I don't think anything that brings attention to women's basketball can be bad. The game is going to be continued to be played below the rim, but an occasional dunk or flashy pass brings attention, and shows the increasing athleticism in the women's game. I don't think there's anything bad about it.
KW: What are you expecting out of freshman Heather Burrow? Is she redshirting this year?
Mulkey-Robertson: She's not redshirting. She has played in the games. She is one of the top two improved players on our team. She's getting better and better every day.
That's all the time we have for now. I've got to get back to my pregame meal before tonight's game against Denver, plus my cell phone battery is running low.
But I'll tell you that Baylor University is a sleeping giant, and I'm a proud coach at the university and hope that some day we'll be in top 25, that some day we'll get that NCAA bid. Being a person who isn't very patient, we're all very hungry here, and I think we're headed in the right direction.
Thanks for your questions.
