UConn Huskies men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie along with Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright and DeAndre Daniels met with the media following UConn’s 63-53 win over the Florida Gators to advance to Monday night’s NCAA Championship Game.

Here’s what they had to say:

THE MODERATOR:  We’ll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from coach and then take questions for the student‑athletes.

COACH OLLIE:  It was a great victory.  We were together, we stayed positive and productive, especially in that first five minutes when they got out to a lead.  I was very happy with my student‑athletes how they recovered.

We played great second‑half defense and kind of took them out of their pick‑and‑roll motion offense.  We started making shots and great ball movement and great body movement.  They stayed together and they showed some true grit and toughness.  I’m very proud of their effort.

THE MODERATOR:  Take questions for the student‑athletes.

Q.  Ryan, what was coach’s defensive message to you guys if you could remember in the pregame talk in the locker room before you headed out?

RYAN BOATRIGHT:  He just said we had to play 40 full on the defensive end, and we just had to help each other one defense.  The rotations had to be on point.  If we could disturb and get Scottie Wilbekin as uncomfortable as we can, we would have a nice chance to win the game.

Q.  Ryan, you guys win, you win comfortably, and you don’t need a heroic effort from Shabazz, who had a good but not amazing game.  Can you speak to the team itself and how it can be so balanced and be composed and beat the No. 1 team in the country without needing 22 points and 14 assists from Shabazz?

RYAN BOATRIGHT:  We have been saying all year that we have got a complete team.  It’s not a one‑man team, it’s not a two‑man team.  We got a complete team.

They were double‑teaming Shabazz a lot, and the unselfish player that he is, he was just giving it up, making plays for his teammates and everybody stepped up.

Q.  Ryan, what is it that makes this team so good at overcoming adversity?

RYAN BOATRIGHT:  We have been through a lot with each other.  This group of guys has been together for three years, and in them three years, we have been through a lot.  We love each other and we believe in each other.  Even if nobody believes in us, we believe in each other and we believe in our coaching staff.  We got a lot of heart and a lot of pride for this university.

Q.  When it was 16‑4 and you guys are discombobulated, was there anything said that really felt like turned it around?

SHABAZZ NAPIER:  We have been through a lot of dogfights and we continue to believe in each other.  We didn’t point fingers when we were down.  We just understood that this was a game, going to be a game of runs.  When we were down 16‑4, we just looked at each other and said we got to put the pressure on, ante up, because this could be our last 40 minutes and we didn’t want that.

Q.  Despite beating Florida earlier in the year, a lot of people were picking them to win this game, what type of motivation was it for you and did you feel disrespected at all that some people were questioning even the fact that you had beat them earlier this year?

DeANDRE DANIELS:  Well, we feel like we have been doubted the whole season, definitely heading into the tournament when people didn’t have us winning the first game.  But that’s what drives us and everybody just is going out there.  When people say that, we like to go out and try to prove people wrong and let them know that UConn’s back on top.

Q.  DeAndre, I know you almost played at the University of Texas.  Just talk about that recruiting.  Were you committed to them and having the unusual big game here in Texas?

DeANDRE DANIELS:  Yeah, like you said, I always liked Texas when I was a little kid, and I committed to them when I was in like ninth grade, 10th grade.  I think that the reason why I de‑committed was because I felt like it wasn’t the best fit for me.  And that’s when I came to UConn, and I’m happy with the decision that I made.

Q.  DeAndre, you probably knew Florida was going to try it key on the guards.  Can you talk about what specifically you saw from their defense that you were able to capitalize both inside and outside?

DeANDRE DANIELS:  Well, first of all, when we started off a little bit slow and we just told guys just to stay with it and keep believing in each other.  We felt like our defense is pretty good and we just needed to keep playing UConn basketball and just get to that and scoring.  That’s what we did.

But the guys are definitely keying in on Shabazz and the pick‑and‑rolls and double‑teaming him.  So, he’s an unselfish player and kept passing and moving the ball, and them guys was knocking down shots with Ryan and Niels and everybody else that came in the game.  With Terrence and everybody, had a big role in this game today.

Q.  Shabazz, how important was it to get DeAndre the ball down low, especially you ran Ryan, set him up for a couple lobs, and you also ran off the court holding one finger.  What were you trying to tell them there?

SHABAZZ NAPIER:  Just simple, one more to go.  But DeAndre, we understood that Florida has a great 1‑3‑1 and we have been working on it and preparing for it, because we understood that when it was going to come down to, they were going to play it.  Wilbekin being 6’2″, DeAndre being 6’9″, me and Ryan being the good point guards we are, we wanted to throw the ball higher for DeAndre to get it.

Wilbekin couldn’t grab it or even deflect it.  So DeAndre was just making good catches and plays and we needed to have that.  When we had the alley‑oop, he came down with it and finished it.  Coaches were making sure that we were prepared for the 1‑3‑1 zones that they were going to throw at us and we took advantage of it.

Q.  Shabazz, everybody likes to compare this team to 2011, can you talk about how this team has been able to establish its own identity and make a run in the tournament?

SHABAZZ NAPIER:  We have totally different players, totally different.  As a head coach, totally different coach.  We understand we’re going to get compared to them, but like we always said, we want to create our own path.  We want to do the same thing that team did, win a championship, but at the end of the day, we want to go on our own path.

We just believe in each other.  We want to continue to work for each other and push each other.  When you give everything you got out there, good things can happen.

Q.  Shabazz, also the other guys, too, at 16‑4 early in the game, DeAndre knocks down that big three.  You guys knock down a couple of shots to get right back in it.  Right away, did you guys feel the momentum at that time shift your way permanently or did you guys feel at that point that you had kind of taken their best punch?

SHABAZZ NAPIER:  Yeah, we understood that they came out and they came out full intensity.  Sometimes it happens in the game.  But we keep our composure.  We have been in so many dogfights.  We sat down after coach called the timeout and he just said, Guys, we have been in this position before, believe in each other.

They were leaving DeAndre open because they were doubling and doing all sorts of things and he took advantage of it.  When he knocked down that three, our fans went crazy and then we understood what was going to happen next.  We just believed in each other and kept fighting.

RYAN BOATRIGHT:  We really can’t answer that no better than Shabazz said.  He pretty much said everything that we went through at that moment.

But we are so unselfish, we didn’t really care who was doing the scoring.  We just needed to get points on the board and we were happy for each other.  Once we got the shots falling for us, we just picked it up on the defensive end.  I tried to be the emotional leader on the defensive end and pick up full court and try to get turnovers.  So we score in track circumstance and we just hit the ground running after that.

THE MODERATOR:  All right.  We’ll excuse you to the locker room and take questions for coach.

Q.  Coach, was there a specific factor that made your half court defense so effective tonight?

COACH OLLIE:  We just wanted to be relentless, make them uncomfortable.  We wanted to challenge every dribble, every pass.  They really wanted to attack empty elbows, if you understand what I’m saying, where they’re coming off pick‑and‑rolls.  They want to dive the big guy, and then they want to get and take the basketball in the middle of the court.

So we wanted to kind of keep them on the baseline.  We wanted to show out and double, have them kick it to Finney‑Smith or Yeguete and have them make a play, then Scottie Wilbekin can make the play or Frazier can make the play, because they’re just terrific shooters, they’re also great facilitators and we wanted to kind of keep them out of the game.

Q.  There’s been a clear evolution of your defense.  You’ve talked about how well they played against Michigan State, obviously, what they did tonight.  Can you recall a watershed moment maybe a particular game a practice, where you just sought light went on and every single guy was willing to subscribe to playing the type of defense you wanted them to play?

COACH OLLIE:  We have been playing great defense all year.  We have been holding our opponents under 39 percent, and you know that’s one of our goals.  So that’s been throughout the whole year we have been playing outstanding defense.

Of course we had some bumps in the road like any team has during the season, and I believe that Louisville game was a bump in the road.  But I think that really promoted us.  A lot of people are saying that was going to destroy us, but our team thought it promoted us to get better.  When you have a big problem like that, bigger the destiny.  And I know this team was destined for great, even in that downtime.  We came back and worked.  We made adjustments from that game and I thought we got better from it.

Q.  Yesterday, you talked a lot about how you’re a complete team and you repeated it over and over again.  Do you think people finally realized it today?

COACH OLLIE:  I’m not sure.  I’m not in y’all heads and I don’t know if y’all keep thinking it’s a one‑man team, but it’s not.  We got great players.  But most importantly, we have great teammates.  Everybody can be a great teammate every day.

I think they really bought into that.  It’s a team game.  They invested in each other.  Shabazz is the first one to tell you, and I keep telling everybody, that it’s not just him.  He’s a willing passer.  He’s a great facilitator.  Now he scores out of necessity, which I want.  But he’s a great facilitator.  He gives the ball up to DeAndre and makes plays for DeAndre.

Ryan Boatright has done a whole 360.  If anybody seen him his sophomore year to now, I mean, it’s like night and day.  Him being a facilitator, him making other people better.  That’s what you do.  That’s how you mature as a basketball player, but that’s how you mature as a man.  You see all those guys growing up.

Q.  Not only after you’re down 16to4, your team comes back and really races back.  But also in the second half, each time Florida calls a timeout, tries to stop the bleeding, y’all come out and just come right back with that same energy.  How did you instill in this team that level of energy and that level of ‘don’t give up’ that they showed so clearly tonight?

COACH OLLIE:  We got in the huddle and I told the guys, I wrote on the board, Even now faith.  Even now we’re down 16 and 4, you’re going to have faith in each other.  I knew we were going to get back in the game.  They knew we were going to get back in the game.  It just was going to have it take one possession at a time.  Getting stops.
How they got down, they got four offensive rebounds in that first five minutes.  So we wanted to get on that defensive back board, wanted to start pushing the basketball.  We wanted to have ball movement and body movement.

I thought we started doing that, we started sharing the ball.  Our guards started getting in the lane, jump stopping, finding DeAndre Daniels for three.  We started penetrating and getting in the thick of the defense.  I thought they did a wonderful job executing the game plan.

But it starts on the defensive end.  We heard it over and over again, Michigan State, Madison Square Garden was a home court advantage for us.  We shot 34 percent in Madison Square Garden.  So what kind of home court advantage was that?  Our fans were there, but we shot 34 percent.  We live and die on defense.  You have to recognize that.  Hopefully everybody understands that.

We played tenacious defense.  We played relentless defense.  It’s not always perfect all the time, but we’re going to play 40 full.  That’s what I believe in my guys.  They are terrific, terrific people because they do not take no for an answer.  They want to play more.  They are built for one more.

We got a chance and I thank God for that.  I just want to really thank Billy Donovan.  He’s a great, terrific coach.  Florida’s a great team, 30‑game winning streak, great coach, Hall of Fame coach, and it’s just an honor to play against him and also compete.

Q.  Scottie Wilbekin has made his living in the paint in this tournament all season long, and you mentioned that Boatright came in as a scorer and he had to subscribe to your philosophy of defense.  How long did that take and how difficult is it to keep Wilbekin out of the lane because you guys made it look easy.

COACH OLLIE:  It’s very difficult.  It wasn’t just Ryan Boatright.  It was our bigs showing out on screen‑and‑rolls.  It was us getting back in transition.  We always say transition starts on the shot, so when those shots was going up, we was getting back in transition, pointing and locating.

Especially Wilbekin and Frazier, we really wanted to keep them out of the game.  Frazier, he reads off of Wilbekin when he gets in the lane.  You have a hard dive by Young.  You got to play Young.  Then you really give up Frazier on the field cut.  So we wanted to really stay on Wilbekin, keep him out of the lane, keep him on one side.  I thought we did a great job of that starting with Ryan.  And then it just started with everybody.  That was our key.  We call it the ace of spades, that was the ace of spades in this game and we wanted to take him out.

Q.  How much did last year help in building chemistry for your guys and would you explain what was the secret or what would you say is the secret to the bond that your guys have?

COACH OLLIE:  It’s just going through the dark days believing.  They just believe in each other.  No matter if they’re down, no matter if they’re banned, no matter if they can’t play in the NCAA tournament, they just believe.  They keep fighting.

I keep telling them, they stay in the middle of the ring, they keep throwing punches.  When everybody counts us out, thinking we’re on the mat, we get back up.  That’s what this university’s all about.

This is what UConn has built over the years, starting with Coach Calhoun and keeping the tradition.  We’re just tough‑minded individuals.  When we’re down, we know if we keep progressing and we keep staying together, sooner or later, we’re going to come out.

Like I said, Even now faith.  Even now in the tough times we are going to keep believing in each other.  I keep saying the bigger the problem, the bigger the destiny.  We knew this destiny was coming.  Because our problems that we faced, we overcame them together.  It wasn’t just one individual, wasn’t just one coach.  It was everybody sticking together and that’s what we built UConn on.

Q.  You talked so much about your defense.  But can you talk a little bit about your offensive philosophy in this game, switching big and small, and particularly how effective your three‑guard lineup was?

COACH OLLIE:  It was very effective.  We wanted to stretch the court.  We wanted to get gaps.  They were kind of loading up, which all great defenses do, they load up on the first side.  So we wanted to get it to the second side, wanted to swing it to the third side, and then start attacking.

Then our three guards really gave us space on the court and they made great decisions.  Once they got in the lane, they were able to kick out.  Also DeAndre was able to come in and get some lobs back behind their 1‑3‑1.

So they just followed the game plan.  They did a remarkable job shooting the ball, especially in the Dome.  I don’t know if it’s a record, but 55 percent in the Dome might be a record.

But we want to continue to play, we want to continue to get good shots and be unselfish.  I think we did that and we want to compete one more night and play one more 40 full on the offensive end and the defensive end.

Here are the Florida Gators postgame quotes.

quotes courtesy of asap sports

photo credit: ap photo

NASHVILLE – Sophomore guard Breanna Stewart has been selected as the Associated Press National Player of the Year, as announced by the AP in a press conference at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Saturday.  Stewart becomes the seventh different Husky to win the AP Player of the Year award and joins Maya Moore (2008-09) as the only UConn sophomore to be recognized.

A unanimous AP First Team All-American selection, Stewart leads the Huskies with 19.4 points per game and ranks second on the UConn roster in rebounding with 8.1 boards per contest. Her 738 points this season are fourth most in program history and represent the second highest total by a sophomore since Maya Moore netted 754 in 2009-10. Stewart not only delivers on the offensive end, but the 6-4 forward leads the squad with 106 blocks on the season, helping UConn set a new NCAA single-season team record for rejections with 313.

Among her numerous career achievements this season, Stewart registered the eighth-highest single-game point total by a Husky in program history when she dropped 37 on Temple in January. She has logged 11 double-doubles this season and scored more than 20 points in 20 games. Opponents have held Stewart below double digits in just two games this season. On Feb. 16, Stewart recorded UConn’s first basket against USF to join UConn’s 1,000 point club as the second-fastest Husky to reach the milestone behind Moore. She is just the fifth Husky to achieve the honor as a sophomore.

The American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year, Stewart went on to lock up Most Outstanding Player in the American Tournament by averaging 21.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in UConn’s run to the inaugural championship. The Syracuse native was named a USBWA All-American earlier this week along with fellow New Yorkers Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley. Stewart is also a finalist for the Wade Trophy, the Wooden Award, and the Naismith Trophy. EspnW.com also chose Stewart as their Player of the Year recipient.

Entering Sunday’s National Semifinal matchup against Stanford, Stewart is averaging 17.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. She has hit a team-high 16 of 19 free throw attempts in that span.

All-Time AP National Players of the Year
1995 – Rebecca Lobo, UConn
1996 – Jennifer Rizzotti, UConn
1997 – Kara Wolters, UConn
1998 – Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
1999 – Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
2000 – Tamika Catchings, Tennessee
2001 – Ruth Riley, Notre Dame
2002 – Sue Bird, UConn
2003 – Diana Taurasi, UConn
2004 – Alana Beard, Duke
2005 – Seimone Augustus, LSU
2006 – Seimone Augustus, LSU
2007 – Candace Parker, Tennessee
2008 – Candace Parker, Tennessee
2009 – Maya Moore, UConn
2010 – Tina Charles, UConn
2011 – Maya Moore, UConn
2012 – Brittney Griner, Baylor
2013 – Brittney Griner, Baylor
2014 – Breanna Stewart, UConn

photo credit: john woike – hartford courant

UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma along with seniors Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley met with the media at the Final Four in Nashville, TN on Saturday afternoon.

Here’s what they had to say:

COACH AURIEMMA:  It’s one of those things that you try to figure out something different to say every time you come up here, and it always comes back to the same things.

Just two games left in the season.  There’s four teams left.  Trying to play on Sunday and Tuesday and for us to be one of those four teams is obviously the goal every year.

And Bria and Stefanie fortunate enough to be here four years in a row and that’s pretty special for the two of them and I want to make sure that we, as coaches and players, do everything that we can to make sure that this weekend goes the way it deserves to go for these two.  So that’s kind of my focus this weekend.

THE MODERATOR:  Thank you.  We’ll take questions for the student‑athletes, first, please.  Raise your hands and state your name and affiliation and address the specific student‑athlete.  Anything for the student‑athletes?  We’ll take one right here.

Q.  Stefanie, I’m curious, after watching film what do you think the best way to defend Chiney on the interior?

STEFANIE DOLSON:  I think for us, we don’t ever look at how to defend a certain person.  We’re really looking at the whole team.  We’re making sure we’re concentrating on making everything they do difficult, making sure every shot they take is a tough shot.  We rebound the ball because obviously Chiney is an extremely good rebounder.  We have to take away her strengths and their team’s strength and worry about executing on offense and defense.

Q.  For both of you, does it ever get old?  This is your fourth trip.  Is it more anticipation, excitement, or pressure to finish this off sort the UConn way?

BRIA HARTLEY:  I think anytime you’re able to compete for a National Championship or make it to the last four teams, it’s a lot of excitement.  I think we’ve worked hard all year.  And we want to get to this moment.  So I think we’re all excited.  We’re eager to go out there and play.  So we’re going to make sure we have lots of energy and lots of intensity when we step on that court.

STEFANIE DOLSON:  Yeah, it definitely doesn’t get old.  Like Coach said, we’re fortunate to be able to be here four years in a row.  It’s something that we have never taken for granted.  And like Bria said, we’re excited to be here and excited to get out and play.  The first two days of being here is kind of all the media stuff, the fun stuff.
But we’ve gotta get down to business, and we’re just excited for the game tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR:  Anything else for the student‑athletes?  Down here.

Q.  Stefanie, everybody probably in this audience and basketball fans are talking about UConn/Notre Dame battle of the blah, blah, blah.  How do you tune that out when you’ve done so much, won by 35 points a game?

STEFANIE DOLSON:  It’s pretty easy.  We just don’t pay attention to it.  Obviously like you said, there’s a lot of hype between the whole two undefeated teams going into the Final Four and the National Championship game, but for us, we don’t think about that.  We take it game by game.  We always have.  It’s something we emphasize during the season.  And we go into the tournament the same way.  We’re just looking forward to the Stanford game right now, preparing for that, and not really focusing on what’s going on around us.

Q.  For both Bria and Stefanie.  How would you say that Stanford has improved since the last time you saw them?  And how do you think your team has improved since that second game of the season?

THE MODERATOR:  Do you want to take it first, Bria?

BRIA HARTLEY:  I think both teams have improved a lot.  When we played them, it was so early in the season.  So there’s a bunch of things that the team really needs to improve on.  And you look at their 3‑point shooters, they have really good guards.  They’re really good at attacking and getting in the paint.  I mean, you have All‑American post player in Chiney, and she’s able to create for her team.  They’ve improved in running their offense and everyone’s a lot more in sync.  For us, it’s the same thing.

We’ve been running around offensively playing together for a few months now, so everything’s a lot more crisp.  And when we go out there, we have to make sure it’s going to be who comes out there, executes each play better.  And at this point in the season everyone has to step up.  And this is when great players make great plays.  So it’s going to be really tough competition out there.

STEFANIE DOLSON:  She said it all.  Both teams have definitely gotten better.  I think at the beginning of the season, you’re finding your identity as a team.  I think both teams are at that point.  I think just each team has had individuals who have just gotten better as the year’s gone on.

Like Bri said, it’s going to come down to executing offense and defense better and then just outworking the other team.  Obviously it’s Final Four game.  No one wants to lose.

I think both teams are going to go in there ready to play.

THE MODERATOR:  Question over on this side.

Q.  Stefanie, what was it about last year’s run in the tournament that maybe springboarded this team to how good you guys have done this year?

STEFANIE DOLSON:  I’d say Breanna Stewart was a big part of that, obviously.  She had a tough year last year, then just made an incredible run for the NCAA Tournament last year.  And I think with her and Bria kind of gaining more confidence, just getting better throughout this summer.  Having the two of them coming into this year just started us off better, and I don’t know.  Just set the tone for the year.

From there on out everybody got better individually.  We picked each other up as the year went on.  Our chemistry grew stronger and stronger as we played more together.  And we’re at the point that we are now where I think we just play extremely well together.

THE MODERATOR:  Time for one more question for the student‑athletes.  Back here.  Sorry.  Over here.

Q.  Bria, I want to give you a chance to brag on Stef a little bit here.  Can you tell me, as you look at Notre Dame, what they’re going through right now, missing Achonwa, is it unfathomable to think about what it would be like to be here without Stefanie and what she’s meant to this team and this run?

BRIA HARTLEY:  Absolutely.  Stef does so much for our team.  Our offense runs a lot better when she’s out there on the floor for us.  When we’re in the offense and she’s in the middle, she sees a lot of things.  She’s a great playmaker, and I think sometimes people always pay attention to her posting up and her presence in the post, but the way she’s able to pass the ball and screen really creates offense for other players.

I mean, it’s hard to find that.  And I think we always say how Stef’s the best screener on the team.  People don’t always pay attention to that, but that’s a big part of your team and that helps get a lot of your teammates open.  And there’s so many things she does that go unnoticed.  She knows that we notice it and we really appreciate everything she’s done for us.

STEFANIE DOLSON:  They definitely notice it.  They tell me.  They’re great teammates.

THE MODERATOR:  Thank you, ladies.  We’ll dismiss them back to the locker room.  They’ll be available until 3:20.  Continue with questions for Coach Auriemma.

Q.  I think you talked during the teleconference about being able to win games in a number of different ways.  Curious, where does the team defense for this team rank in those factors?

COACH AURIEMMA:  Yeah, I thought last year we had one of the best defenders in the country in Kelly Faris, and we were able to do a lot of things with her.  We don’t have anybody like that this year.  So it’s had to be more of a team‑oriented thing.

And everyone‑‑ everyone on our team knows that we can’t afford to make a lot of mistakes on the defensive end.  We can’t get ourselves in foul trouble.  We can’t give up easy buckets.  So I think Kelly graduating and the fact that we know we don’t have anybody like that has made us a really, really good defensive team.
People have a hard time scoring against us, generally speaking.  We block a lot of shots.  The best way to keep people from scoring is don’t let the ball ever get to the rim.  If the ball gets to the rim, it’s got a 50/50 shot going in.  Right?  If it never gets to the rim, that’s pretty good defense.  That’s been a big part of our defense this year.

THE MODERATOR:  Question from Michel.

Q.  Geno, you and Stanford have played a lot over the past three years.  What are the two or three things that you know are either going to happen or you are going to have to do when you go up against Tara and their staff?

COACH AURIEMMA:  Well, they’re going to be really well prepared.  They’re going to have a game plan.  And you’ll be able to tell right away what their plan is.  And you’ve got to be able to make the adjustments if you can.  If you can’t, then you’re going to be in big trouble.

You also know that, same as it was when they had Neka, that Chiney is going to be a huge factor around the basket on both ends of the floor, offense and defense.  And I don’t know that there’s anybody in the country individually that can guard her.

So you know you’re going to have to deal with that somehow or another.  And they’re going to take a ton of 3s.  That’s always been the case and that will be the case on Sunday.  And how well we’re able to defend that is going to go a long way towards who wins the game.

THE MODERATOR:  Question here from Richard.

Q.  Geno, understanding that it’s very hard to compare teams of different years and players, Kelly has obviously graduated, but where is this team at this point of the year heading into the semifinal game versus where last year’s team was heading into the same point, the semifinal game?

COACH AURIEMMA:  I think mentally for whatever reason, we didn’t have any reason to be, but we came in last year mentally in a pretty good place.  We didn’t win the regular season, the Big East.  We didn’t win the Big East championship tournament.  And yet I think we came into the Final Four expecting to win, even though I don’t think anybody else expected us to win.

This year, there’s been so much hype surrounding the team because of what happened in last year’s tournament and we’re undefeated.  I don’t know that we’re in the same place, because you can’t be, you know.  But I think this team, for whatever it’s worth, I don’t know what it’s going to be tomorrow, but the team’s a lot more confident and sure of itself than last year’s team, last year I think we were determined but there was still a little bit of doubt.  And I get the feeling from this particular team that there isn’t any doubt in their mind that we’re the best team here.

Whether or not that plays out, I don’t know.  But right now, that’s the mindset that I see.

THE MODERATOR:  Question back there.

Q.  After two slow starts in Lincoln last week, have you placed any extra emphasis on starting strong tomorrow night?

COACH AURIEMMA:  Yeah.  I’m probably going to have to mention that in the pregame speech.  Let’s start strong.  I guess last week saying let’s start [Bleep] didn’t work too well.

I don’t think we, coaches, fans, everybody, I don’t think we realized how hard it is to make shots in the Sweet 16 and the Final Four.  Every time the ball leaves your hand, it’s not the same as playing in January and February.

And if you don’t make the first couple, it gets even harder to make them.

And especially when you’re used to making them and all of a sudden you shoot the ball poorly like we did, both of those games in the beginning, it starts to become contagious.

I’m a huge baseball fan.  And guy throws a no‑hitter for three or four innings, going to be hard to get any hits the next four or five innings.  And shooting’s the same way.  Start the game.  Couple guys knock in a couple of 3s right away, get up 10‑0 and everybody thinks the basket is as big as the ocean.

So last time we played Stanford in November, I think the score was 2‑2 the first seven minutes of the game.  So I’m going to tell them before the game starts.

Q.  Geno, after the beginning of the season, your conference is a little bit down.  The only really tough team you had was Louisville several times.  Next year it’s going to be Louisville and Rutgers going.  It could be an even easier conference.  Are you at all concerned that‑‑ obviously this team has gained a lot of confidence from it, but is there an opposite side of that that they don’t really know what it’s like to be challenged when they come to a situation like this?

COACH AURIEMMA:  I don’t believe that that’s the case this year.  I can’t speak for what might happen next year.  But the three teams that are here besides us, we beat Maryland at Maryland and we beat Stanford at home.  And we beat Texas A&M.  And we won at Duke.  And we beat Louisville three times.  And we won at Baylor.  And we won at Penn State.

I think this team thinks they can win anywhere, anytime against anybody.  Next year, I don’t know.  But we’ve been in this situation before.  Remember in 1995, before the Big East really became the best basketball conference in the country, that year, two teams from the Big East went to the NCAA Tournament.  Two out of, I want to say, nine or ten, maybe 12.  I’m not sure how many were in the league back then.  12.  So I think we had two teams go in 1995.  That’s how bad the league was.

And we were undefeated, won the National Championship.  All we heard was we were the bet.  Stanford played in the Pac‑12.  Tennessee was there.  Georgia was there.  And how tough the Southeast Conference was and how tough the Pac‑12 was and how every league in the country’s great and we played in the Big East, that’s what they called it.  We beat Stanford by 30 in the semifinals and then we beat Tennessee for a National Championship.

So if you have the right kind of players and you prepare properly, I don’t know.  I have a lot of respect for everybody.  But I respect certain teams.  I don’t respect conferences.  A lot of teams playing in big time conferences that haven’t won a damn thing in their careers.  So I’d rather be in our conference and win them all instead of being in another conference.

THE MODERATOR:  Time for a couple more.  We’ll take one right here.  Michel.

Q.  Geno, Brenda said that Stanford and Maryland might be like extras in the Miss America competition.  Tara at one point this week I think said maybe they feel they’re a little bit like the JV team.  If they’re feeling that way, does that‑‑ and they’re motivated by that, do you think that that ends up being relevant at all in anything that happens tomorrow?

COACH AURIEMMA:  No.  I really don’t.  At this time of year, the teams that play the best basketball are the teams that are going to win.  And whatever motivation you want to use only works if the other team doesn’t play well.  So if we play poorly against Stanford and Stanford plays well and they win, it won’t be because they were motivated by being a JV team.  It will be just because they played better.  And the same goes for Maryland.

There’s an awful lot of emotion on every team going into the weekend.  But after about five, six, seven minutes, maybe, all those things go away and it’s just play basketball.  All four teams are capable of winning a National Championship.  That’s the beauty of the Final Four.  You don’t have to win three out of five.  You don’t have to win four out of seven.  Not best out of three.  All you gotta do is play really well two nights and you can win a National Championship.  And all four teams that are here are capable of doing that because they’ve already done that.

So I don’t think they should feel like they’re a JV team.  I don’t think they should‑‑ anybody should feel like they’re the extras at the Miss America pageant.  I’ve never won any pageants.

Q.  Coach, somebody just looked at the box scores and your team seems automatic this year, but I know you guys aren’t robots.  From your close vantage point to the team, could you explain the humanity of you guys or something like that?

COACH AURIEMMA:  We have five starters that are really good offensive players.  But they all have their weaknesses.  All five of them.  They’re not superhuman.  They’re not infallible.

If we had enough time and I was inclined to do that, I would list five things about each five starters that I hate that I wish I could fix between now and tomorrow night.

The key is you’re not going to know what they are and neither is the other team because we’re going to try to hide it as best we can.  But we all have them.  We all have them.

What we’re good at, we’re really good at.  Really, really good at it.  What we’re not good at is we try to pretend like we are because we don’t want you to see it.  And that’s kind of our philosophy.  Let’s just be really great at what we’re really good at and hope they don’t find out what we’re bad at.

THE MODERATOR:  Question in the back.

Q.  Coach, when you get to UConn, no tradition.  Haven’t been winning.  Not exactly in a metropolis.  How did you sell‑‑

COACH AURIEMMA:  It is now.  We have more stores than just one store.  It used to be called store.  Lou Holtz’s great line.  Used to be called store.  Then they opened another one.  Now it’s called Storrs.

Q.  How did you sell the kids on you and the belief that you can do something great here with this program?

COACH AURIEMMA:  In the beginning, greatness had nothing to do with it.  There was no such thing as talking about being great back in the early years,’85,’86,’87.  So what we did was we identified who were the next level players that the schools that we were trying to beat down the road were not going to recruit.  So from an area of let’s say Boston to Pittsburgh to Washington DC, we had tried to identify in that area who were the best players that are not going to be recruited by the best schools in basketball, who are the next level down.  Maybe two levels down.

Let’s go recruit those guys.  Let’s convince them that they can come here and be part of something, and a bunch of them bought it.  And then when they got there, you know, we coached them pretty good.

They got a little bit better.  We started winning a couple of games.  And then we started getting a little bit better player.  And then when we won a National Championship in 1995, I thought, you know, we only have two kids on our team that were recruited by everybody.  Rebecca Lobo and Nykesha Sales.  Everybody else was like, those other kids we could go undefeated, win a National Championship with two players on our team that a lot of schools wanted.  We start getting a bunch of those guys, we’re going to be really good.  That’s when we started talking about being great.

But by that time we had already built a pretty good program so it wasn’t hard to convince them to play there.
But in the beginning we could never get great players to come play at Connecticut.  That would have just been impossible.  As a matter of fact, when I got the job at Connecticut.  There was a kid playing in Boston called Tonya Cardoza, and she was one of the best players in the country.  I was recruiting her when I was at Virginia.  But when I took the Connecticut job, I didn’t recruit her, because why waste my time recruiting her?  She’s not going to come to Connecticut.  Eventually she came, ten years later, as an assistant coach, but we didn’t waste time recruiting kids we knew we couldn’t get.

Now, we haven’t changed that much.  We still don’t waste time trying to recruit kids we know we can’t get.  So a little bit has changed but not a whole lot.  And Storrs has changed.  The university has changed.  It’s 1985, there’s absolutely no comparison between the school, the basketball program, everything.  It’s like night and day.  It’s like night and day.

Here are the Stanford Cardinal Final Four Pregame Quotes.

quotes courtesy of asap sports

photo credit: john woike – hartford courant

After falling yesterday afternoon after receiving their 2013 World Series Championships rings in a moving ceremony, the Boston Red Sox look to get back on track tonight in the middle game of a three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Brewers market, you can catch the game on Fox Sports Wisconsin.  And if you can’t catch the game on television, you can always listen on the 2014 Red Sox Radio Network.

Clay Buchholz gets the ball for the first time in 2014 after going 12-1 with a 1.74 in 16 starts in 2013. Tonight marks his first career start against the Brewers.

Wily Peralta makes his first start of 2014 after going 11-15 with a 4.37 ERA in 32 starts in 2013. Tonight will be his first career start against the Red Sox and at the Fens.

2-2		2-2
1. Carlos Gomez	CF	1. Grady Sizemore	CF
2. Jean Segura	SS	2. Dustin Pedroia	2B
3. Jonathan Lucroy	DH	3. Daniel Nava	1B
4. Aramis Ramirez	3B	4. Mike Napoli	DH
5. Khris Davis	LF	5. Xander Bogaerts	SS
6. Logan Schafer	RF	6. Jonny Gomes	LF
7. Mark Reynolds	1B	7. A.J. Pierzynski	C
8. Scooter Gennett	2B	8. Jonathan Herrera	3B
9. Martin Maldonado	C	9. Jackie Bradley Jr.	RF
Wily Peralta	SP	Clay Buchholz	SP

NOTES:

Mike Carp was in the original lineup at 1B but was scratched with lower back tightness. He was replaced by Gomes who takes over for Nava in LF who is now at 1B. Will Middlebrooks was in the original lineup as well but was scratched with a calf cramp. He was replaced at 3B by Herrera.

Here is how the hitters have fared against the starting pitchers during the regular season over their careers.

More links will be added if/when they become available so please check back often.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

David Ortiz surprised by second ring; Lyle Overbay ponders what might have been [clubhouse insider]

Farrell: ‘Planned day down’ for hobbled David Ortiz [clubhouse insider]

Grady Sizemore moves into leadoff spot for Red Sox [clubhouse insider]

Will Middlebrooks, Mike Carp scratched from Red Sox’ lineup [clubhouse insider]

Why did the Red Sox give Ortiz a second ring? [csn new england]

Sizemore leading off for first time since 2011 [csn new england]

Victorino (flu) still being kept from teammates [csn new england]

Mujica hopes to turn page after rocky outing [csn new england]

Carp (lower back) a late scratch to Sox lineup [csn new england]

Notes: Breslow ‘getting closer’ to activation [csn new england]

Buchholz hopes health spawns success [espn boston]

David Ortiz sits out for Boston Red Sox against Milwaukee Brewers [espn boston]

Breslow nears return; Victorino needs more time [espn boston]

Jared Remy brought up charges of assaulting fellow inmate [full count]

Red Sox pregame notes: David Ortiz’s night off ‘planned down day’ [full count]

Lyle Overbay and the real lesson of the 2013 Red Sox [mike petraglia – weei]

David Ortiz Dealing With Calf Issue; Absence A ‘Planned Down Day’ [nesn]

Though eligible, Craig Breslow not activated [providence journal]

Lester has learned how to pitch to unfamiliar opponents [providence journal]

A ‘planned down day’ for Ortiz [providence journal]

Will Middlebrooks has a plan when he swings at the first pitch [providence journal]

After healthy spring, Buchholz ready to make season debut [redsox.com]

Farrell opts to give Papi season’s first off-day [redsox.com]

The importance of Edward Mujica [alex speier – weei]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credits: getty images, getty images

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Senior center Stefanie Dolson, senior guard Bria Hartley and sophomore forward Breanna Stewart have all been named to the 2014 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division I Coaches’ All-America Team as announced by the WBCA on Saturday.

UConn has now had 31 all-time selections to the prestigious team and Stewart is the 18th Husky to be honored on the WBCA All-America squad.  Dolson was selected to the squad last year while Hartley earned All-America status in 2012.

This marks the ninth time that multiple Huskies were named WBCA All-Americans and the third time three made the squad.  Sue Bird, Swin Cash and Diana Taurasi were selected in 2002 while Tina Charles, Renee Montgomery and Maya Moore made the team in 2009.

Stewart is only the sixth UConn sophomore to be named to the team along with Svetlana Abrosimova (1998-99), Diana Taurasi (2001-02), Moore (2008-09), Hartley, and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (2012-13).  Moore was also selected to the team during her freshman campaign.

Stewart, who was selected to the Associated Press All-America First Team earlier this week, leads the Huskies with an average 19.4 points per game and ranks second on the UConn roster in rebounding with 8.1 boards per contest. Stewart not only delivers on the offensive end, but the 6-4 forward leads the squad with 106 blocks on the season, helping UConn set a new NCAA single-season record for rejections with 313.

Among her numerous career numbers this season, Stewart registered a career-high in points after she netted 37 against Temple in January, representing the eighth-highest total by a Husky in program history. She has logged 11 double-doubles this season and scored more than 20 points on 20 occasions. Opponents have held Stewart to fewer than 10 points in just two games this season. The American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year, Stewart went on to lock up the league’s Player of the Year award before earning Most Outstanding Player in the American Tournament by averaging 21.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in UConn’s run to the inaugural championship. The Syracuse native was named a USBWA All-American earlier this week along with fellow New Yorkers Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley. Stewart is also a finalist for the Wade Trophy, the Wooden Award, and the Naismith Trophy. EspnW.com also chose Stewart as their Player of the Year recipient.

An Associated Press Second Team All-America selection, Hartley has been exceptional in her final season at Connecticut, averaging 16.3 points per game and dishing out 166 assists. On Feb. 19, Hartley earned membership to an elite UConn club when she grabbed her 500^th rebound to join Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi as the only trio to amass 1,500 points/500 assists/500 rebounds. The senior currently owns 1,968 career points, needing 32 to become just the eighth Husky to reach 2,000 career points. Her 255 3-point field goals ranks fifth all-time at Connecticut. Hartley is a finalist for the Wade and Wooden Awards and was named a USBWA All-American.

Dolson, the 2013-14 American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Sportsmanship Award winner, enters the Final Four averaging 12.4 points per game and leading the team in rebounding with 9.2 boards per contest. The senior ranks 11^th all-time in program scoring with 1,770 career points and joins the elite company of Tina Charles, Maya Moore, Rebecca Lobo, and Jamelle Elliott to register at least 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.  Dolson also boasts the distinction of joining Kara Wolters as the only two Huskies to four-peat as conference All-Tournament selections. To top the list, the senior recorded just the program’s second triple-double against Oregon on Nov. 20 before Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis posted the third. Dolson is also a finalist for the Wade and Wooden Awards and joined Hartley and Stewart with her second consecutive USBWA All-American laurels.  She is also a finalist for the WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year Award.

The 10-member team was decided from a group of 52 finalists by the selection committee at an in-person meeting held during the 2014 WBCA National Convention.

ESPN, in conjunction with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, announces the University of Connecticut and University of Notre Dame will be the 2014 participants in the Jimmy V Women’s Classic, to be held Saturday, Dec. 6.

The 13th annual game will be played at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., and televised on ESPN or ESPN2.

UConn-ND series highlights:

• The 2013-14 season marks the first time in almost 20 years that Connecticut and Notre Dame did not face off during the regular season.
• The series – that dates back to the 1995-96 season when the Fighting Irish joined the latter BIG EAST – became one of the most talked about in recent years.
• The Huskies and Fighting Irish have faced off four times in each of the last three years when combining regular-season games with postseason contests, and on average played 2.3 times annually during the 18-year series.
• The two teams have met four times in the NCAA Women’s National Semifinals with Notre Dame holding a 3-1 edge in victories.
• Connecticut leads the all-time series 30-11.
• To date, Connecticut has won eight NCAA Women’s National Championships (1995, 2000, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’09, ’10, ’13) and Notre Dame captured the 2001 national title.

The 2014 Jimmy V Women’s Classic marks the first time the Fighting Irish will be participating, while Connecticut will be playing in the annual event for the fourth straight year and seventh time overall.

The 20^th edition of the Jimmy V Men’s Classic will showcase Villanova vs. Maryland and Indiana vs. Louisville on Tuesday, Dec. 9, from Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The early-season event is part of the eighth annual Jimmy V Week, a weeklong initiative across multiple ESPN platforms and programs featuring special content to help raise funds for cancer research. In seven years, Jimmy V Week has generated $8,246,000 in total contributions for The V Foundation for Cancer Research, including a record-setting number of $1,827,000 in 2014.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they’ll take on the Florida Gators in the 2014 Final Four at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. Tip is scheduled for 6:09 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on CBS. You can also catch a UConn feed of the game on truTV. You can also catch the game on your smartphone or tablet on the March Madness app. If you live locally in Connecticut and can’t watch the game, you can always listen to Joe D. and Wayne Norman on the UConn IMG Radio Network.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn Men’s Basketball Final Four Pregame Quotes [sox & dawgs]

Kevin Ollie: ‘I’m Not Chasing Championships, I Want Championships To Chase Me’ … Notes, Quotes, Thoughts From Jerry’s World [dom amore – hartford courant]

Register Product Seth Davis Talks UConn, Toad’s Place, Vito Montelli [david borges – new haven register]

Some UConn Video and Quotes from the Final Four [david borges – new haven register]

Thoughts from Dallas: On Florida, On Ollie’s NBA buzz, and Roscoe Smith [kevin duffy – ct post]

UConn loose and ready to go (video) [gavin keefe – the day]

Huskies meet the press, practice [william paxton – ct post]

Final Four notebook: Young ready for UConn rematch; Ollie proud of ‘Husky’ coaching staff [william paxton – ct post]

UConn tidbits: Nolan says speed key to his game [william paxton – ct post]

UConn must control Young [john silver – sny uconn]

UConn Has Used A Balanced Attack To Reach Final Four [uconn huskies]

Good defense the cornerstone in UConn’s tournament run [ct post]

Shabazz may be the man but Boatright key to Huskies’ success [ct post]

Donovan realizes UConn not a one-man team [ct post]

UConn men’s notebook: Young knows all about UConn’s frontcourt [ct post]

Keys for the Huskies against Florida [ct post]

Be True To Your School: Napier, Giffey, Olander Stick It Out [hartford courant]

There’s A Reason For UConn’s Success At Free-Throw Line [hartford courant]

Florida’s Donovan Knows There Is More To UConn Than Napier [hartford courant]

Boatright Hasn’t Decided, But Appears To Be Staying At UConn [hartford courant]

UConn’s Kevin Ollie Continues To Improve The Landscape [hartford courant]

It Could All Come Down To Mr. Big Shot [hartford courant]

Off The Court [hartford courant]

Calhoun built it, but UConn is Ollie’s program now [new haven register]

Former Florida recruit DeAndre Daniels looms as ‘X’ factor for UConn [new haven register]

Miller, Huskies confident and ready for Gators [the day]

UConn men face Florida tonight in national semifinals [the day]

UConn’s DeAndre Daniels Could Ride Hot Streak to the NBA Draft [zags blog]

Gators don’t want repeat of Shabazz Napier’s heroics [palm beach post]

Lakers should target Connecticut’s Kevin Ollie as next head coach [los angeles times]

Kevin Ollie and UConn sure don’t sound like underdogs in blustering pregame comments: Florida beware? [culturemap dallas]

Connecticut is playing even better than when it beat Florida [dallas morning news]

AT&T Stadium tour helped UConn focus on Final Four [fort worth star-telegram]

Riverside’s Nolan playing bigger role for UConn [milwaukee journal sentinel]

Let the Basketball Wagering Begin [ct news junkie]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn’s Stefanie Dolson Wins Senior CLASS Award In Women’s Basketball [sox & dawgs]

Video: UConn Women Head To Nashville [sox & dawgs]

UConn’s Breanna Stewart A 2014 Honda Award for Basketball Nominee [sox & dawgs]

Is UConn in league of its own in American? [carl adamec – sny uconn]

ESPNU To Televise A’ja Wilson’s Announcement [john altavilla – hartford courant]

Jefferson Continuing To Produce In NCAA Tournament [rich elliott – ct post]

Officiating A Concern For Auriemma [rich elliott – ct post]

Women’s Hoops Spends First Full Day in Nashville [uconn huskies]

UConn’s Dolson, Hartley old hands at Final Four [ct post]

More Than Anything, Geno Demands Sweat From UConn Women [hartford courant]

More Awards For Stefanie Dolson [hartford courant]

UConn Football links

Shelton’s Dan Orlovsky signs with Detroit Lions [ap]

Other UConn related links

W. Tennis. Huskies Drop AAC Home Match with Rutgers, 6-1 [uconn huskies]

W. Soccer. Women’s Soccer Announces 2014 Recruiting Class [uconn huskies]

W. Lacrosse. Huskies Continue Conference Play Saturday Against Rutgers [uconn huskies]

W. Track. Women’s Track and Field Hosts UConn Invitational Saturday [uconn huskies]

M. Track. Sam Smith Finishes Third to Lead Huskies at UConn Decathlon [uconn huskies]

Baseball. UConn Baseball Falls, 7-2, To Bryant In First Game of 2014 College Baseball Classic [uconn huskies]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.