Geno's Press Conference

While the Bears were practicing, I sat in on UConn head coach Geno Auriemma's press conference and thought I'd share the Cal references. His thoughts on Cal were pretty much what you would expect - he highlighted Devanei Hampton and Ashley Walker but he was sure to key in on how he was not looking past the other players on the field.

The most quotable part of the interview was when Geno was described how Cal plays and how it reminded him of Joanne Boyle's playing days, when he was coaching at Virginia.

"The team reminds me of her as a player, but more talented that her."

When asked how UConn would have to react to playing a game at 9 a.m. local time like the Bears will do tomorrow, Geno responded with "Game time is when the ball goes up. If you're concerned about game time, then you've already lost."

Geno's key thoughts on Dev and Ash were that they are not one-dimentional. He said they were "active, agressive and difficult to [guard] one-on-one in the lame." He also commented that AGL is the "type of guard you want when you've got two bigs."

Staff Feature: It's the Shoes

The California women’s basketball team has been stirring a lot of buzz recently, but it’s not just about their game and the best season in program history. It’s about their shoes.

During the regular-season Pac-10 trip to Oregon in February, a Nike representative approached the Golden Bears about designing their own shoes. The Nike rep selected just four schools in the entire nation to have the opportunity to have one-of-a-kind kicks for the NCAA Tournament, an honor that the Bears do not take lightly.

“She thought we were one of the four that were going to last the longest into the NCAA Tournament,” freshman Casey Morris said. “It meant a lot because of all the respect that went along with it. It also gave us confidence.”

This year’s large bid to the NCAA Tournament is the seventh overall and fourth straight trip for the first time in school history. Monday evening’s 99-73 win over No. 5 seed Virginia was the first second-round victory ever for Cal women’s hoops. For the seniors, getting to design their own shoes was further proof that their four years of building the program had not gone unnoticed.

“I think it means that we came into our own,” redshirt junior Alexis Gray-Lawson, who has been at Cal for four years, noted. “People are definitely starting to recognize what Cal basketball is all about.”

To design the shoes, the Cal team of 11 student-athletes were split into two groups and each set used a Nike program to select the features for the sneakers. Although, the coaches selected the final winner, the two groups created shoes that were remarkably similar.

The tongues of the shoes are individualized for each player with Cal and the number on the one and a moniker on the other foot. Some went with their last names while Lexi chose AGL instead.

“We wanted to make it look like our own style,” senior Shantrell Sneed said. “We also wanted to make a statement about Cal basketball.”

The shoes and the Bears made a statement about Cal basketball at the Galen Center last weekend, earning a trip to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever at Cal. Now the team will pack its bags, and shoes, for Trenton, N.J. with hopes of a Final Four trip in their minds.

Here's the rest of my Q&A with several of the players about the shoes:
CalBears.com: What does it mean to you to be one of only four schools in the entire country with personally designed shoes?
Alexis Gray-Lawson: I think that it means that we came into our own. It means a lot because of all of the work that you put in over the years. People are definitely starting to recognize what Cal basketball is all about. It’s a high honor to be able to make our own shoes. We worked together as a team and coaching staff. The shoes are cool! Some of us will play professionally after college, and I feel like these shoes set us up for the future.
Shantrell Sneed: Personally, I feel like it’s a testament to the hard work that we’ve put in, day in and day out, since our last tournament game and in the off-season. It’s nice to receive that kind of national recognition.
Casey Morris: When we first found out that we were going to get to design the shoes, the woman who selected the teams picked the four teams that she thought were going to last the longest into the NCAA Tournament. It meant a lot because of all the respect that went along with it. It also gave us confidence.

CalBears.com: How did the design process work?
AGL: We were in two separate groups and we kind of had a race to see who could come up with the best shoe. It was me, Devanei, Casey, Tasha and Ashley and Kevin and everybody else in the other group. We wanted to come up with something that showed our personalities. We wanted to go bright. We wanted to make sure that nobody could touch them.
CM: We wanted to make sure that the shoe wouldn’t be something that you would find in a store, but that it would be an original. We wanted it to the stand out.
SS: We wanted to make it look like our own style, and to make a statement about Cal basketball. We were split into two groups, and they two sat down at a computer and went online to a Nike Web site to see what parts we like. At the end, the coaches decided on which shoe they wanted to go with. Casey, Nei Ash Lei and Tasha.

CalBears.com: What’s your favorite part about the shoes?
SS: We like the fact that we have black in our shoes. We also really liked that we got to put our names and numbers on our shoes.
CM: I like how the bright yellow stands out.
AGL: My favorite part of the shoe is on the side with the stripes. I also really like that we have Cal and our number on the tongue. I got AGL on the other shoe tongue.

Press Conference Quotes

California Coach Joanne Boyle

"I'm just excited to be here. Continuing to play it is what this time is all about -- survive and advance and I thought we did a good job of that last night and I'm just excited to play Virginia."

On breaking down Virginia's team

"Virginia is a great team. There are things they do very well. They are a great transition team. They have a great three in (Lyndra) Littles, (Aisha) Mohammed and (Monica) Wright. They get a lot of touches. They thrive and really push the ball in transition and get easy baskets and do a lot from rebounding."

"We need to take away transition, stay on the boards and don't let them on the free throw line."

On approaching the next game

"We've done a lot of game-planning of course. We're trying to keep our kids in their comfort zone and tweaking things here and there. It's more about the comfort now. And we're doing a lot of film."

"You just can't turn the ball over against a team like this because you won't have a chance to play transition defense because it will be a layup."

California forward/center Ashley Walker

On coming back for second round

"It's just another game. We are staying in our comfort zone. It's great playing in the Galen Center again. We're just exciting to play another game."

On trying to make Sweet Sixteen

"I definitely think last year motivates us. It's definitely one of our goals. It's my last time. We (the rest of the seniors) all have that feeling. We can't waste a possession. Every night we're trying to do that. We're excited to play and when they put the ball out there it's tournament time. No ones going to give it to you. You have to fight for it."

California guard Lauren Greif

On improved play over the last week

"We watched a lot of film on our ball movement how it has gotten kind of stagnant in the last couple of weeks. So we just really focused on moving the ball and watched more film."

"The faster the ball moves the harder it is for defenses to find us."

California guard Alexis Gray-Lawson

On advancing in the tournament

"Just to know that this could have been our last practice or this could be our last game, it makes you want to play that much harder so that you can get one more practice or get one more game."

"I think it makes us hungry. (There is) definitely more desire in our hearts to go out there and not just win for ourselves, but to win for our seniors and our community."

Cal: 66, FS: 45

Time remaining: 2:45

Ashley Walker’s on the bench, she’s got 21 points and eight rebounds.

Alexis Gray-Lawson has got 12 and Lauren Greif has 11.

Rachelle Federico is headed into the game for the Bears for Kelsey Adrian.

Lexi just made a great lay-up on a fast break to extend Cal’s lead. Mooch earned a jump-ball call after battling off three Bulldogs.

This is going to be the last in-game post for me, as we’ve got to prepare for post-game media conferences.

In-game blog notes:
Per NCAA rule, I’m only allowed to blog five times per half, once at halftime, and twice per overtime period. Please hit refresh on your browser window to see if I’ve posted any new updates about the game.

Cal: 49, FS: 30

Time remaining: 9:32

The Cal bench erupted after Natasha Vital drained a three-pointer:


They cheered again after Alexis Gray-Lawson made her first of the game:


The Bears opened the second half with a 13-1 run.

Casey Morris recently scored her first points in an NCAA Tournament game.

Ashley Walker scored 13 of Cal’s first 16 points within the first eight minutes of the game.

Walker came into tonight’s match-up with 54 career points against the Bulldogs occurring over the course of two games (Dec. 7, 2006 and Nov. 10, 2006).

Barring any major changes in in-game performances, Ashley Walker and Nastaha Vital (along with Joanne Boyle, of course) will participate in the post-game press conference. Stay tuned for quotes.

In-game blog notes:
Per NCAA rule, I’m only allowed to blog five times per half, once at halftime, and twice per overtime period. Please hit refresh on your browser window to see if I’ve posted any new updates about the game.

Photo Update: Practice Day

We've put up a fantastic gallery of images on CalBears.com of the practice day and press conferences. Here are some highlights of the gallery, but you can see the full gallery by clicking the link below.

NCAA Tournament – Day Two: Practice Day Photo Gallery

A wide shot of the dais at the press conference. (Photo by Mollie McClure)

Assistant coach Jennifer Hoover and senior Ashley Walker. (Photo by Mollie McClure)

Casey Morris looks to pass to a teammate during practice. (Photo by Angela Niles)

Team huddle. (Photo by Angela Niles)

Press Conference Quotes

On Friday morning, head coach Joanne Boyle and three players participated in a press conference at the Galen Center. Below are quotes from that press conference.

California head coach Joanne Boyle

On defending the 3-point threat of Fresno State

"Just playing in the Pac-10, we have a lot of great three point shooting teams. Playing USC last week it kind of presented that problem to us. But we worked on it this week and I think you just got to play it as a chess match a little bit; be able to get out there and defend the three."

On Cal's game-plan for Fresno State

"We are going to move the ball around a lot and get good touches, work to get

one-on-one touches. We are just going to do a combination of different things."

On California's lack of depth down the stretch

"It's tournament time. Everybody is playing 5, 6, 7 kids, you look at tournament time and everyone is playing that many kids. Nobody is worrying about tired legs. Nobody is feeling sorry for you. Everyone is throwing their best game at you and you just have to be prepared and be ready to play."

California forward/center Ashley Walker

On first-round match-up with Fresno State

"We are excited to be here. We are ready to play. It's great that it is a gym we have played in during the season, last week and the week before that. We have had our ups and downs, but you have to let that go and move on to the next part of the season. The next most important game is Saturday."

On last year's game against Fresno State

"It was a close game, so I am sure it will be a close game again here. It is going to be a good game and we are just excited about being on the floor."

California forward/center Devanei Hampton

On first-round match-up with Fresno State

"We are all just amped up and ready to play. It's tournament time, we are about business."

California guard Alexis Gray-Lawson

On first round match-up with Fresno State

"It was definitely a great travel for us, our family and friends get to come and support us. We are just very excited to be here and be in this situation that we are in."

To see the quote release on CalBears.com, please click here.