After we cut it to five, we made mistakes. We were rushing our shots, and trying to do it all by ourselves, instead of like a group.
When we played them last year, they were real physical on the inside. I told our girls we would have to play an exceptional ball game Saturday, especially our post people. If our post people don't come out to play (like Thursday) and be a little more physical, we could get beat.
It's ironic how the only team that beat us (in the regular season) last year, was the team that beat us this year. We always split.
They really are a team. They play like a team, and that is fun to watch. That's what makes them so good, they get along together. When you do that, and you have some talent, too, you win ball games.
We haven't been practicing well lately. I told them we played the first half like we've practiced. We've got to tighten the screws and become a better team.
It's somewhat frustrating. You don't want to lose (in the Final Four) all the time.
After seeing them this week, their confidence is pretty high. I can see it in their eyes. The past couple of weeks, they have played just well enough to move on, but they're feeling pretty good, and we should play that way (against Sandy Creek).
She has as much basketball knowledge as anybody I've ever coached. What I try to do with her is get her to play to her max, be as good as she's capable of being all the time, no matter who we're playing.
The biggest thing is just her overall intelligence as far as understanding the game, and taking advantage of her talents to help us and make us better. Her game is basically the same (since she was in middle school).
If that intensity on the practice court increased, it would make her better, and more than anything, make everyone else better. Sometimes, when she is laid-back, everyone else is like her. I would like that to improve, and her strength to improve. That would help us tremendously.
