Northwestern University Athletics
Coach McKeown Media Week Teleconference
10/27/2017 12:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Women's basketball head coach Joe McKeown answered questions from the media during the conference's annual preseason coaches' teleconference. The transcript of Coach McKeown's call is below.
Head Coach Joe McKeown
Opening Statement
"I'm excited to get going again. We're a very young team, we lost 6,000 points-plus in our senior class but I really like the energy and enthusiasm of everybody that's been in practice and coming back. We have four freshmen that have come in and right now they're doing a great job of playing like sophomores instead of freshmen. That may change when the ball goes up here in about a week, but I'm really excited about our team. It's a very different style of play than what we've done the last four years. Practices are really spirited and really competitive right now.
Vera Jones, Big Ten Network
"Obviously, big changes for you with that senior class moving on, who left a legacy of winning, of course. In what other ways do you think that they defined the culture for you for this team moving forward?"
Coach McKeown
"They raised the bar at Northwestern. They learned how to win on the road in the Big Ten. They got to the NCAA Tournament. They got to the Top-20. They expected to win when they walked on the court. That was different than for the most part before I got here. Northwestern just didn't have that competitive edge and that's what they brought. It was just a confidence factor. Our young players that played with them sensed that and realized, 'This is Northwestern now, you're supposed to be good.' That's the biggest thing they did for our program, as a group.
Mechelle Vopel, ESPN.com
"I know you are entering your 10th season in the Big Ten. How have you seen a change in style of play in different programs – I know the conference has expanded in your time—how that's changed? Also, a lot of people thought the Big Ten was shortchanged with some NCAA tournament bids last year, and maybe teams didn't get that benefit of the doubt. As someone who has spent time in the A-10 and knows what that's like, from a "mid-major" perspective, did you feel that was the case, and that it was something the conference can address so they do get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to NCAA tournament selection?"
Coach McKeown
"I've been on both sides of March Madness, and it's not fun when you get left out. That happened to our league this year. Sometimes, committees will take teams and just match them instead of conferences. There's so much unbalanced scheduling now in college basketball around the conferences, some play 18 games, some play 16, scheduling parameters. I think it's a very difficult challenge for a committee member to decide who's better. It's a tough job. I feel like our league last year was really competitive, as you mentioned, we expanded, and schools we added really care about women's basketball in Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers. It's changed our league from that standpoint too. But I feel like we're really deep. One through 12, one through 14, everybody can beat everybody, and that's what makes our league different. I feel like we got shortchanged last year and maybe even the year before. Hopefully that will create some awareness for the league this year and we have a lot of great players and great teams. We have teams that won 20 games that were left out, teams that won more than that and finished third, fourth, didn't get in and teams that finished fifth or sixth did. I don't know what that's saying about the regular season, maybe it gets devalued sometimes. Coming from a program where I had a top-ten, top-20 team, and we always felt like our seed was based on our conference and not on the fact that we had just beaten Duke or we played Tennessee or we played Connecticut. It's a tough job, I'm never going to be on that committee."
Christy Winters Scott, Big Ten Network
"I heard you mention that because of the graduation of the four seniors you were going to play a different way. What specifically is that new way that your team will play in terms of philosophy?"
Coach McKeown
"We have been, when we were really good, we were a really athletic, fastbreak, transition team who could score a lot of points, and in a hurry. And now we're going to have to be more of a power team, more of a halfcourt, grind-it-out team, and take really good care of the basketball. That's our goal. So far, we've done a pretty good job. Most of the players we have that were in our system are used to playing in transition and a wide-open style, and now we're more halfcourt-oriented. I'll keep you posted on it, check in with me at Christmas."
Head Coach Joe McKeown
Opening Statement
"I'm excited to get going again. We're a very young team, we lost 6,000 points-plus in our senior class but I really like the energy and enthusiasm of everybody that's been in practice and coming back. We have four freshmen that have come in and right now they're doing a great job of playing like sophomores instead of freshmen. That may change when the ball goes up here in about a week, but I'm really excited about our team. It's a very different style of play than what we've done the last four years. Practices are really spirited and really competitive right now.
Vera Jones, Big Ten Network
"Obviously, big changes for you with that senior class moving on, who left a legacy of winning, of course. In what other ways do you think that they defined the culture for you for this team moving forward?"
Coach McKeown
"They raised the bar at Northwestern. They learned how to win on the road in the Big Ten. They got to the NCAA Tournament. They got to the Top-20. They expected to win when they walked on the court. That was different than for the most part before I got here. Northwestern just didn't have that competitive edge and that's what they brought. It was just a confidence factor. Our young players that played with them sensed that and realized, 'This is Northwestern now, you're supposed to be good.' That's the biggest thing they did for our program, as a group.
Mechelle Vopel, ESPN.com
"I know you are entering your 10th season in the Big Ten. How have you seen a change in style of play in different programs – I know the conference has expanded in your time—how that's changed? Also, a lot of people thought the Big Ten was shortchanged with some NCAA tournament bids last year, and maybe teams didn't get that benefit of the doubt. As someone who has spent time in the A-10 and knows what that's like, from a "mid-major" perspective, did you feel that was the case, and that it was something the conference can address so they do get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to NCAA tournament selection?"
Coach McKeown
"I've been on both sides of March Madness, and it's not fun when you get left out. That happened to our league this year. Sometimes, committees will take teams and just match them instead of conferences. There's so much unbalanced scheduling now in college basketball around the conferences, some play 18 games, some play 16, scheduling parameters. I think it's a very difficult challenge for a committee member to decide who's better. It's a tough job. I feel like our league last year was really competitive, as you mentioned, we expanded, and schools we added really care about women's basketball in Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers. It's changed our league from that standpoint too. But I feel like we're really deep. One through 12, one through 14, everybody can beat everybody, and that's what makes our league different. I feel like we got shortchanged last year and maybe even the year before. Hopefully that will create some awareness for the league this year and we have a lot of great players and great teams. We have teams that won 20 games that were left out, teams that won more than that and finished third, fourth, didn't get in and teams that finished fifth or sixth did. I don't know what that's saying about the regular season, maybe it gets devalued sometimes. Coming from a program where I had a top-ten, top-20 team, and we always felt like our seed was based on our conference and not on the fact that we had just beaten Duke or we played Tennessee or we played Connecticut. It's a tough job, I'm never going to be on that committee."
Christy Winters Scott, Big Ten Network
"I heard you mention that because of the graduation of the four seniors you were going to play a different way. What specifically is that new way that your team will play in terms of philosophy?"
Coach McKeown
"We have been, when we were really good, we were a really athletic, fastbreak, transition team who could score a lot of points, and in a hurry. And now we're going to have to be more of a power team, more of a halfcourt, grind-it-out team, and take really good care of the basketball. That's our goal. So far, we've done a pretty good job. Most of the players we have that were in our system are used to playing in transition and a wide-open style, and now we're more halfcourt-oriented. I'll keep you posted on it, check in with me at Christmas."
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