Coach Cathy Inglese wants tougher defense against Holy Cross

The Playbook

The Playbook is an occasional series on University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball team and head coach Cathy Inglese as she works to turn around a losing program. Check out previous installments here, here, here, and here.

By Laura Pappano

With 3:31 to go, it is a six point game, 65-59, Cathy Inglese’s URI Rams trailing Holy Cross at the Hart Center in Worcester.

Three good things have just happened: 1) Lindsay Harris sunk two foul shots, 2) the Rams flat out rejected a Holy Cross shot, sending it skittering away from the basket at a downward angle, and 3) a few seconds later URI freshman Anisha Wilson, a 5’6” bundle of speed and intensity, leapt up, Randy Moss-like, and stole a Holy Cross pass out of the air.

Time out called. Rolling Stones come on mid-song at full volume. URI fans rumble the wooden bleachers with their feet. Could this be it? Could this be the momentum-shift URI needs?

Coach Inglese, clipboard in hand, kneels on the wood floor in her pinstripe slacks. “Listen up here,” she says, and starts drawing and shouting over the music with an intensity that has every player focused on her black magic marker and the message that comes with it: “We are playing reactive!” We need to push them on defense. Don’t just stand there! Don’t just be a body! Emanate energy! Challenge them physically!  “We are GIVING them OPEN THREES!!”

When it is over, 80-71, Holy Cross players are whooping it up in celebration, banging their fists against metal AC venting in the hallway leading into the locker room.  And why not? It’s their first home win and the end of an 8-game losing streak.

For URI, which entered this game 7-7, the loss came down to defense – and three-pointers. Holy Cross was a stunning 13 for 22 (59.1%) from 3-point land. (Game stats here.)

Put another way, they scored 39 of their 80 points on threes. If those shots had been two’s the score would have been 67, not 80.  How do you defend against that kind of shooting?

Before she steps into the locker room – as she does before halftime and (though more briefly) during time-outs – Coach Inglese gathers her coaching staff to hash over what they see, what stats show, and proposed adjustments.

There is always a message, but part of building a team, Coach Inglese will say later, is that she needs to give the same message many times, that some players “get it” and some still don’t. That like someone learning new dance steps who is suddenly lost when the full-tempo music comes on, DI basketball is a detailed, skilled business that runs at warp speed. It takes time to master.

At halftime, she let them know that they had dug a hole, but warned, “I’m not asking anyone to play extra ordinary.” Her message then was about defense and team play. “Everyone is out there doing their own thing. That was 10 games ago. The games we’ve won, we’ve played as a team,” she says. “They are jacked up. We let them get hot. It’s all about you. It’s not about them.”

Despite the message that if they played their game (instead of just responding) that they could win, it happens some — but not enough. In the locker room afterwards,  there is the smell of sweat and the sound of silence. The players sit on wooden benches, shoulders slumped, knowing what’s coming. Coach Inglese, intense, but purposeful, fires. “What lost us this game?”

After a very long quiet, a voice offers, “Defense.”

“Our transition defense was God awful!” she says. “This team is not that good! We made them look good!”

She is concerned that players aren’t making the adjustments she’s asking them to make. “What are you guys afraid of?” she asks.

Her point is this: if opponents keep beating you on drives to the basket, if they keep beating you on three-pointers, then know they will do those things and step up your defense against those tendencies. “You’ve got to make them beat you on something else!! Make them beat you another way!!!”

Her messages to players during time-outs (plus halftime) have been the same messages — and that’s the well of her frustration. As she wraps up, she gives them the positives – they outscored their opponent in the second half (four players scored double digits), they out-rebounded Holy Cross (34-30) and killed them on the offensive boards (17-7). Later, when they are showering and heading to the bus, she gathers some perspective. They are good kids, no attitude, no eye-rolls — nothing — when they are yelled at or yanked for messing up. They listen. They are trying.

At 1:42 a.m. Coach Inglese e-mails. She has gone over the film and she wants to point out that there are some small, but worthy developments. Players are talking and interacting more, showing more emotion.  When one player was knocked down on defense, another jogged over and helped her up.  “Believe me,” she writes, “this was big. Small signs that mean a big thing.”

And, she acknowledges, Holy Cross was hot.  “I wish the outcome could have been a little better,” she writes, “but after watching the game tape I have to say that Holy Cross hit a lot of big 3’s…we were on them for many and they still put them in.” (Video post-game interview with Coach Inglese here).

By Laura Pappano

It’s starting. New uniforms are arriving. Coaches of other RAMS teams that bump into staff of the URI women’s basketball team are chatting about the season. For the first time in years there is anticipation that this year — maybe — could be the start of something. But as Head Coach Cathy Inglese and her assistants — including two former pro players – prepare for tomorrow’s exhibition game and the season opener next week against Fairfield University, there remains a lot of work ahead for a team that won three home games last year.

Inglese challenged her new team this summer, pressing them to improvetheir grades. Her philosphy: You can’t be excellent on the court and mediocre in the classroom. Players responded.

Now, how do you go from being used to losing to understanding how to win? From playing better on the road to developing a fan base and a home-court advantage?

Coach Inglese, asst. coaches Ashley Earley, Amber Jacobs, and Megan Lanham, director of operations Steve Wallace, and team captain junior Megan Shoniker, spoke with FairGameNews about some of the challenges of teaching players a new system, new expectations — and at the same time building support on campus and across the state for a team that may not — YET — have all the talent it needs to finish near the top of the conference and, dare say, make it to the NCAA tournament.

FGN: As a player, Megan, you were here last year. Does it feel any different now?

Megan Shoniker: It’s a lot different. We are reaching out more and getting people’s attention, going into the community.

Megan Lanham: With men’s basketball, people go and it’s a sport they watch. For women’s basketball, you need to build a sense of ownership. People want to know the players and the coaching staff.

Cathy Inglese: I’ve been out talking with people, groups. I say, ‘We are the State University. We are your University. Come support us. We want to make you proud.’

Steve Wallace: I talk to  my friends and they say they say they don’t go to women’s basketball. I say, ‘Come to one game and you will be hooked.’ And they come and they are.

FGN: How does the team look?

Megan Shoniker: I was really excited about Julia [Barac], one of our freshmen. But she’s gotten injured.

Megan Lanham: We are excited about Megan. The question marks on our team are the point guards. We have two freshmen. That will be something to watch develop.

Cathy Inglese: We need to have some kids stepping up – and it’s still early. I think Julia could be very good. I know she worked hard over the summer and she came back ready. But consistency, that to me right now is our issue. Right now the system is all new to everybody. This is one of my favorite times of the year. I don’t care what the heck anyone else is doing, I’m not looking at scouting reports. I am teaching our players what they have to do on and off the court. Part of it is creating that strong core, teaching them what it’s like to compete, what it is like to go hard.

FGN: I understand that you care a lot about fundamentals. What does that mean?

Amber Jacobs: We break every little thing down. Even the smallest footwork matters like a jump stop or a pivot or jab and go. You learn those in 7th grade, but to break that down again as a college player and build on that to dribbling moves and defensive stances – how to beat your player off that first quick step – footwork and fundamentals are key.

Cathy Inglese: What a lot of kids don’t want to do is break it down. They just want to go out and play. But I’ve noticed that it pays dividends with kids. We run a lot of set plays, but we also look at the fast break. We need to be sure we have smart players so when somebody doubles on the screen, they know what to do…Right now they are running to where they need to be, but not executing. Executing is knowing how to react to the various defenses that are thrown at them. There are all these layers as teacher and coach.

Ashley Earley: The system we ran at Vanderbilt was built on fundamentals. That was one reason I wanted to work for Cathy. As a coach, you can’t skip this step. What’s most exciting to me is to see our evolution. I’m excited to see the team come together. Right now, we are still a group, not a team. But we are 10 steps closer to being a team than we were this summer.

FGN: The Atlantic 10 pre-season coach’s poll has the team finishing 12 out of 14. Does that bother you?

Megan Shoniker: It’s a smack in the face. You never want to be 12 out of 14, but we have yet to prove we deserve higher than that. It’s our job to prove them wrong.

Cathy Inglese: Pre-season polls are guestimates. It’s how you finish at the end. Obviously we are hoping to be much higher than 12th.

FGN: There were also no URI players named to the first, second, third or defensive teams in the Atlantic 10. How does that reflect on your team?

Megan Shoniker: There are a lot of talented players in the A-10.

Cathy Inglese: We are here to change the culture of what people think about URI Women’s Basketball. The players on our team have to get better, but we also have to bring in better talent.

FGN: It seems like a Catch-22. How do you bring in better talent when the program has had a losing record?

Megan Lanham: The responses we are receiving in recruiting [for next year] are great. Having Cathy’s name attached to us is getting us in with high level players. They are calling us, they are visiting, high school coaches are contacting us. People know this is a building year. That’s been established. But there is an excitement to build a tradition and be part of hanging that first banner, to be a difference-maker in a high level conference. And Cathy is regarded as one of the best coaches in the nation. What kid wouldn’t want to come here?

THE PLAYBOOK

By Laura Pappano

Go ahead and debate whether or not it’s a good thing, but women’s college basketball is changing: Young women don’t just talk about D1 ball as a way to cover the cost of a college degree, but see it as a path to the pros.  Certainly, some players have always aspired to keep playing — in the WNBA, for the USA, or in Europe. But increasingly female players come to college with hoop dreams.

“It’s a change,” says University of Rhode Island head coach Cathy Inglese, noting that’s one reason she hired two assistant coaches with professional experience: Ashley Earley (Vanderbilt ’05 who made 4 NCAA tournament appearances and played in Israel) and Amber Jacobs (BC ’04 who played in the WNBA 2004-2008). Inglese says one of the point guards she recruited this spring, Anisha Wilson from New Haven, CT, has pro aspirations. “Anisha wants to play in the WNBA,” says Inglese. “It’s something she has brought up.”

Sure, there were mixed reactions when Epiphany Prince announced in June she would skip her senior year at Rutgers to play in Europe and enter the 2010 WNBA draft. The worry: Are the women headed down the road of men’s college ball, where many hardly sit through a class before making their way into the NBA? Are inner-city girls now going to think basketball — and go light on the studies?

Unlikely. The troubling example of inner-city boys who plan for NBA careers only to be lost and uneducated at 20 is more about educational guidance and engagement (or lack of) than basketball. The professional venues for women don’t — dollarwise, anyway — negate the necessity for a college degree. Even Prince promises she’ll get hers. (We’ll check). On the other hand, this development will only improve the quality and competition of D1 play.

Meanwhile, let’s talk about coaching.

During her year sabbatical Inglese visited top D1 basketball programs and sat in on practices run by the best coaches in the business —  Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Pat Summitt (Tennessee), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), and Gail Goestenkors (Texas), among others.

Some take-aways:

1. When you coach, says Inglese, “you’ve got to do what is your personality. You can certainly pick and choose the drills, people do different things with video. It’s nice seeing it, but you’ve got to go with what you feel and be consistent. If you are up and down that confuses the kids.”

2. “You need to have leadership, a person on the court who sets the goal and creates a standard,” says Inglese, who believes Megan Shoniker could be that person for URI. “When I met with the team in the locker room, we were talking about goals and things and Megan said, ‘I don’t want the winning to start two years from now, I want it to start doing it now. I want to win now.’ She is a gutsy kid.”

3. “Geno and others, they let their staff be involved in the teaching and breaking down at practices. I used to think I had to bring the energy all the time to practice. They have to bring that themselves,” she says.

4. Inglese says she noticed the intensity at practice.  “The top coaches are into detail and being disciplined and doing things hard and game-like. That is something I have always known, but it was good seeing that.” In other words, practice how you play.

The Playbook

By Laura Pappano

The first game of the upcoming season – against Fairfield University (18-13 last year) – is months away, but Coach Cathy Inglese is thinking about it. More pointedly, she’s thinking about the work she and her team have ahead of them to competitive in that game – and in the season.

In a visit to her new digs on the second floor of the Ryan Center (note: supernice facility) last week, Inglese showed off her freshly-painted lemon yellow office. The color — more intense lemon rind yellow than lilting pale — is not an accident. This is a place that needs some zip. Inglese, just back from a month of recruiting (Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, D.C., Maryland, Chicago) is not new to building programs. She did it at the University of Vermont and at Boston College.

So even as she complains about how far behind she is, how much there is to do, Inglese is clearly far more comfortable with the pressure of a clock than having a a wide open year to contemplate the meaning of coaching. That was last year. It’s nice, she says, to have a purpose again, to be part of a program.

In this case, she’s inherited a mess – and she’s pumped about it.

“Look at this film room!” she says, pushing open the door to a small room a few strides from her office in the women’s basketball suite. Video tape is stacked on tables, shelves – orderless. Down the hallway, newly-hired staff and assistant coaches (more on them in next installment) are in offices that hardly look unpacked, let alone organized. But everybody is busy. Working. Meeting.

The team IS behind. But it wouldn’t be the first time. Before Inglese was named head coach in April, departing coach Tom Garrick (56-112 record) did a mea culpa, apologizing for losing so much (56-112 over six seasons).

Last year, they won just three games at home.  The other stats aren’t any better:  Opponents outscored URI 929-738 in the first half and 972-922 in the second half. In key statistics (free throw, field goal, 3-pointed, rebounds) they were trounced. (URI had edge in steals). Click here for stats.

“I would love to say .500 or above,” as a goal for a win-loss record this season, says Inglese. But she insists she is building for the long term and that means tackling a deeper issue: Getting rid of the losing culture. That means no more dogging it in practice – or in the classroom. That means no cutting classes or saying you e-mailed that paper when there’s no evidence you did. It means practicing like you intend to play.

Because she was only with the team for two weeks in the spring, summer session was the first time Inglese could give players a taste of her expectations. When she discovered that the team GPA was 2.4, she was… “really disappointed.” Not just because she’s a coach who boasts a 100 percent graduation rate, but because she believes you can’t be great in one arena and lazy in the other. There is a connection between life and sports, school and basketball – and she wants players to understand that, too.

“I tell the kids I don’t like mediocrity. I don’t like just getting by,” she says. “I want these kids to know what it takes to be successful. I want them to work hard in the off-season and learn how to win.”

It may be too soon to tell if Inglese can spur a mindset shift. But in her first challenge to them – earn a 3.0 for summer school grades – they responded with a 3.3. “To me that’s something. Our kids were coming in talking excitedly about what grades they got in summer classes,” she says. (The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in July announced teams with the best GPA’s. Indiana State was top in DI with 3.645)

It’s early, but Inglese sees several keys to turning around the program – short and long term:

1.    Leadership on the court. “You have to have a person on the court who sets the goal, who sets the standard.”

2.    More basketball talent and especially players who get the ball in the basket. “You can’t win a lot of games scoring 54 points a game – and that’s what they averaged last year.”

3.    Limit turnovers. “We have to take care of the ball more. That comes with the teamwork.”

4.    Hard work. Positive attitude. “They are tired of losing and they are at least saying they want to win.”

5.    Understand success is not immediate and keep focused on the goal, realizing in the interim that some losses are better than others. “It is scary to work hard and not win, but even if you don’t win you can measure progress in other ways. Maybe this year you lose instead of by 20 points, you lose by 5.”

Her job? Inglese needs to get to know the players better to understand how to motivate them individually. They are all making short videos of their families and homes to share as a team when they return. Inglese is also listening to a request from players: get more fans in the stands at the Ryan Center (last year’s average home attendance was 2,223).

“The biggest thing the kids have said is, ‘Please ask people to come to our games,’” says Inglese. “People are excited in the community here, Rhode Island is a big basketball state. This is something I promised the players I would work on.”