2011-12 A-10 Media Day Quotes

Head coach Michael Shafer answers questions about the 2011-12 season

Q: Discuss your young team for the 2011-12 season
A: We've got 11 freshmen and sophomores so we have a young basketball team. Abby Oliver making the preseason second team is a tremendous honor. She's definitely earned it through competitveness with three years in the league. I'm pleased with that. The only downside is she's our only senior. We've got one kid to emulate in practice and four upperclassmen. It's been an up and down preseason in the sense we're trying to get new pieces better. We have a lot of talent, it's just a matter of getting them experience. Unfortunately, you can't spoon-feed them that, they have to play their way.

Q: The competiveness of the A-10
A: I say it every year. I really believe we get respect but at the same time I don't believe people appreciate how difficult this league is, particularly top-10 to 11 teams. It's brutal. The coaches are very good, and the players are very, very good. Consequently, there was a five-way tie for third place [in our league standings last season]. That's unheard of.

Q: Discuss the challenges ahead with a young squad
A: It's challenging, but not impossible. It's challenging in a sense that when you have young kids, you never know how their going to adjust to the college game. We probably have three kids that could see significant minutes, if not start. We're looking at eight or nine kids deep, with those three or four in the mix. In terms of the challenging part of it, it's just a matter of getting them experience as much as possible. We need to get them on the floor with kids that do have experience. That coupled with the league's competiveness, there's no easy games. We're going to have to face challenges. There's no easing into it. It's may be the most challenging [season] since I've been here, but it's not impossible because we have some talented pieces.

Q: Adjusting to losing top scorer Brittani Shells
A: Brittani was a 2,000 point scorer. Losing Brittani will open doors for some players that assumed roles last year that they weren't going to play as much or be a profilic scorer because what was in place already. It opens the door for them to take on new roles and responsibilities and spreads the scoring around a little more. I really like the talent and makeup of our team. Potentially, in two years we're going to be very good. We're good now, it's just a matter of how quickly they come along. Replacing 2,000 points isn't going to be done by one kid, it's going to be done by a good number of kids on our team.

Q: Toughness of non-conference slate
A: We've always felt in order to be successful, we've got to be prepared with the type of teams you play. One of the things we've tried to do is either play teams in a BCS league or play teams that finish first or second in their conference. We have that on our schedule this year. If you can beat those teams, it's going to ultimately help you in postseason play, whether it's an at-large bid or an automatic bid. There's no way to ease into our conference. You have to go in knowing what to expect. You've got to be competitive when going into A-10 play, and there's no better way than to play a tough non-conference schedule. It's a challenge that we can have success in, which is a good balance.

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