Lady Bear Hoops at Big 12 Media Day
10/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 29, 2004
WACO, Texas - Head Coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, Steffanie Blackmon and Sophia Young represented the Baylor Lady Bears in Kansas City, Mo., at Big 12 Basketball Media Day.
Steffanie Blackmon, Sr, P, 6-2, Dallas, Texas
Averages 14.6 points and 6.8 rebounds for her career with 1,402 points and 651 rebounds.
Two time All-Big 12.
On the preseason watch lists for Wooden Award and Wade Trophy.
Sophia Young, Jr, F, 6-1, St. Vincent, West Indies
Career averages of 15.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.5 steals.
Has career totals of 1,083 points and 653 rebounds.
Led the Big 12 in rebounding the last two years and a first team All-Big 12 selection last year.
Lindy's and Athlon's Preseason All-America teams.
MODERATOR: Baylor University has joined us up here so we are ready to start. Coach, we would like to let you introduce your players and make a few comments, please.
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: This is Steffanie Blackmon. She is a senior post player. Sophia Young, a junior post player. We are glad to be here.
MODERATOR: That means you are ready for questions.
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: I am ready for questions.
Q. Kim, when you took the program over, did you think you would be able to get it to this level this quickly?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: I think you have aspirations of doing it as quick as you possibly can. Realistically, you probably don't put a time frame on it because recruiting is the life blood of all of it. You just don't know how quickly you can get good recruits in there to coach.
Q. How much does the end of last year's season motivate you right now? How much do you think about it?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: Sure, it will motivate us. I think about it not once, maybe twice a day. How could you not think about it? It's something, if you are a competitor, that you don't ever want to be a part of. I just know the feelings after that game was something I don't ever want to experience again. Being a competitor, you always think about it.
Q. Kim, do you think the players came down from the off-season working harder because of how things went last year?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: Well, they didn't come back. I couldn't get them to leave. They stayed in school this summer and worked out and worked together, with the new rules that the freshmen can come to school, but they can't necessarily be with the returning players, they watched those returning players and worked out. I can't tell you that I think they work any harder now than they did prior to what happened last year, but I know those that are returning won't ever forget it either.
Q. Kim, you have, obviously, the strength of your team is the inside players. I wonder, should we just assume that any guards you bring in, especially point guards, that you can turn them into being a significant player just based on your background?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: No, don't assume that at all. You can assume I will be on them every day, but our perimeter play has got to play very consistent for us this year. Yes, it's no secret that our post play is pretty good. You have two returning all Big 12 players, and we have a senior point guard returning and her back-up will be a freshman, and then you have got 2 and 3 other perimeter players that have significant experience last year because of the number of injuries we had early in the season.
Q. For both players, the Big 12 post players off the last season, are you looking at this as an opportunity this year to really be the main post players in Big 12 this year?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: That's for the players?
Q. Yes.
Steffanie Blackmon: Every year I want to be the top post player in the league, but I still think there's some in the league that are going to be playing this year, so it's going to be competitive. I am just up for the challenge.
Sophia Young: Well, yeah, I agree with what Steffanie said, but I think every night is going to be a challenge and there is a lot of great post players in the league. We just have to come out and try to overwork the other post players and try to be better or perform better that night or something.
Q. Kim, following up on what Rachel just asked, with so many good post players that were in last year gone, playing professionally in a lot of cases, do you anticipate maybe the style of play in the league changing somewhat this year?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: I don't know. I think our league is a league that has a lot of different styles. I think you can go to one game one night and go to another game another night, and going from seeing a very athletic team to a very half-court team. I think that's what is so great about the Big 12, you see so many styles of basketball.
We did lose great post players in the league, but I think, as the girls said, there are great post players returning.
This league just tends to reload a little bit. I think that now what you will see with those post players that are returning, you will just see those guys develop and blossom now that they will have the opportunity to play.
Q. For the players, what kind of expectations have you all set for yourselves after the run you made last year?
Sophia Young: Well, last year was a really ?? the end of the season was a really motivational thing for us, and we worked hard all this summer trying to be a better rebounder and trying to be a better scorer. I just think that we just worked on quickness and being real aggressive and everything that we do, so expectations is to be more aggressive and just go out and work hard every night.
Steffanie Blackmon: What was the question?
Q. How have you set your expectations up this year?
Steffanie Blackmon: To me I had two different things. First of all, I want to play the whole season. Second of all, I want to get further than the Sweet 16. Definitely trying to work hard, make sure I hold up my end and just go from there.
Q. Kim, as the league is balanced top to bottom this year, as it has been the last couple of years, there are really good teams and the others are pretty good, they are not as good as the top three or four?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: I think what you saw in the voting by the coaches, it is very obvious that Texas has the most talent and is by far the best team and should win the league. I think that was very obvious from the vote count. I still say there are teams in this league that are going to compete night in and night out to stay in the upper echelon of the league.
I think you look at the teams that have finished at the bottom of the league, you may not see them finish at the bottom of the league. It may be a little more parity than you think with the exception of Texas having the most talent.
Q. Kim, how much weight do you put on your finish in the Big 12 relative to how successful you want to be (inaudible)?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: Well, we always want to win the Big 12. I think that's any of our goal, is to win the Big 12. You can go far in the NCAA playoffs and not be a Big 12 champion. You can get to the Final Four and not be a Big 12 champion. Timing and how well you are playing certain points of the NCAA playoffs play a big factor in it.
We certainly would love to win it in the Big 12, as would all the other coaches, but we all shoot for the playoffs. We all want to win that last game of the year and can't but one team do it.
Q. Kim, how tough is it to get through the Big 12 south division specifically?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: South? It's very tough. You can't enjoy victories in this league for worrying about the next opponent. I don't particularly care to get into the South versus the North. It's the Big 12. We are all one big league. It just so happens that we play a couple of teams twice and others once, but we are all ultimately competing in a league that is just brutal.
If you can survive and finish in the top half of the league, chances are you are going to the playoffs.
Q. Just a follow?up: Is that why you think the Big 12 usually deserves more tournament slots last year and you deserve a little more because of what you do against each other and what you have to go through every night?
COACH MULKEY-ROBERTSON: Without question. If you look at our league and you see the level of talent in the league, the level of coaching that takes place in the league, it's a great league to participate in, whether you are coaching or playing. We certainly are prejudiced because we coach in this league, but we just feel like night in and night out there is never a game, there is never a day that you can take a break.
Anybody in this league is capable of beating anybody. I don't know that all leagues can make that statement.
MODERATOR: Any more questions for the coach or for the players? They are all waiting for the one-on-ones in the back, Coach. If you go back and join them at the tables, we appreciate that.
