Texas Tech University Athletics
Weekly Press Conference Remarks by Marsha Sharp
June 21, 1999 | Women's Basketball
February 1, 1999
LUBBOCK, Texas - Quotes from Marsha Sharp during Feb. 1 press conference:
"The best part about last week's games were that we won them. We didn't particularly play well for 40 minutes in either game and that bothers me a little bit. The fact that we were able to come away with wins is something that's obviously big for you this time of year. One thing I do want to say that is important is what a great crowd we had on Saturday night - in a lot more numbers than we expected due to the weather. It was most particularly it was the biggest student group we've had this year for our games. We really appreciate that support and hope that maybe they'll come back and watch us again throughout conference play."
"We need some time off and I'm sure glad it came right now. We're a little bit weary, legs are tired, we have some bumps and bruises we need to heal. You'll probably find most of our team in the training room. We start practice again tomorrow (Tuesday) and go down to Austin on Saturday for the big match-up. You can always be assured of something when you play Texas. You don't look at records - it doesnt make any difference what either team has done to that point. When you get to that game, it's going to be a battle. When we go on the road to Austin, there will be a lot of people done there that will be hostile. It will be a great challenge for our basketball team."
"Texas is playing well. They have a lot of young players that continue to get better game after game. They're ready for this challenge. We'll have to match some intensity and emotion to be able to have a chance to win. So far, it's surviving. That's the best we can say about what weve been doing. Hopefully we can get some people back on track this week. Go back to a few fundamental things for a couple of days. Review some things that we have gotten away from just a little bit because we've been so concerned with game preparation. I'm looking forward to that practice time and be more sound when we get to Austin on Saturday."
On concerns (offense vs. defense):
"We've played pretty consistently on the defense end. We've held opponents to a fairly low score. In most of the games, we played good enough defense to win. The two things we probably have not done well enough have been rebounding and shooting the basketball. Some of that has to do with shot selection. The biggest concern has been our ability to rebound the basketball. We really have to do a better job with that."
On Aleah Johnson's play since returning from a viral inflammation:
"She gave us a good look last week. One thing about her is that she's playing right now like its December and her legs are fresher than maybe anyone else in the conference. She has a little bit of a quicker jump than some people. She certainly was a factor last week and will continue to improve. Aleah's so athletic that she can do a lot of things - change some things up - and the look we give people. We're excited about the week she had and hope we can build on that and give her more minutes as we go."
