Bowling Green State University Athletics
A Conversation With Curt Miller
October 31, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Oct. 31, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team is nearing the end of its second week of preseason practice, and the 2003-04 edition of the Falcons will play an exhibition game vs. the Premier All-Stars on Monday (Nov. 3). Admission is free for the game, which begins at 7:00 p.m. at Anderson Arena. Head coach Curt Miller enters his third season with the Falcons, and recently sat down with BGSUFalcons.com to discuss the upcoming campaign...
BGSUFalcons.com: As you enter your third season at BGSU, what is the feeling surrounding the program?
Curt Miller: We're excited about the 2003-04 season. We have nine players in the program that did not compete in our games last year, with seven true freshman, a transfer who practiced with us last year but had to sit out due to NCAA regulations, and a former starter who is now back after a year off. So, we're excited about those nine newcomers. We feel that, in the three years that we've been here, we have the most depth that we've had.
At the same time, I don't think you ever replace a Francine Miller, a proven Division I college scorer in Kim Griech, and some very talented role players. So, we will have to learn quickly, we'll have to improve every day in the weight room and on the court, but overall there's a sense of excitement and enthusiasm about the '03-04 season that this program has not felt since our arrival.
BGSUFalcons: It seems like the team has some size for the first time since your arrival.
CM: We've addressed the rebounding need in the easiest way you can do it, which is by recruiting. Seven of the nine players (who did not play in 2002-03) are 5-10 or bigger. We have answered a lot of our rebounding questions. Now, we've got to go out and be a more physical and determined rebounding team. Clearly, one of our weaknesses was points in the paint, rebounding both offensively and defensively, and I legitimately feel like we have a talented and deep post game now, and a team that can go out and be one of the better rebounding teams in the league.
BGSUFalcons: Point guard seems to be a position of strength for your team in 2003-04.
CM: The point guard position will be one of strength for the Falcons. We will have three-year starter Lindsay Austin entering her senior year, looking to have the best season of her career. She is looked upon as a leader for this young team, both on and off the floor. She's excited about that role. Lindsay is clearly one of the most talented defensive point guards in the entire conference. Her strengths are the ability to play in the open floor, her ability to get herself to the basket, and her ability to disrupt our opponent's offense with her on-ball pressure. I think you will see Lindsay have a tremendous year. As she goes, we will go. She'll be the engine of our whole team, and set the tone for us, both offensively and defensively. We're counting on her to have a great year, and I would be shocked if she's not regarded as one of the best points in the league.
For the first time in three years, I feel very, very comfortable with our backup point position. Julie Gompers comes in as a highly-touted freshman, arguably the best senior point guard in the state of West Virginia last season. Her ability to keep the tempo up, her ability to see and distribute the ball are her strengths. Playing against Lindsay every day will only benefit Julie, and I feel very comfortable with Lindsay and Julie at the point position this season.
BGSUFalcons: The wing position has been a strength of the team in recent years. Can you talk about those players?
CM: The best returning wing player in the program is Stefanie Wenzel. Coming off two great years under our system, she is a tremendous three-point shooter. She finds ways to score. She is a great foul shooter as well as a great three-point shooter. We continue to look to her to take big shots and make big shots for us all season. She has worked hard on her strength and conditioning going into her senior season, and looks in tremendous physical shape.
She is one of the hardest-working players that I've coached in 14 years of college coaching, and she's a great leader by example, day-in and day-out in practice, for seven young kids. We've asked for her to be a good leader on and off the floor, and she clearly does that, leading by example.
Her trademark continues to be her stand-still shooting ability from the arc. She has worked hard to become a better penetrator, and her ability to get herself to the foul line could be the difference-maker in terms of her becoming an all-conference player. She has the ability to play more '2' this season, with us having a bigger lineup than we've had before, but she will still play at the '3' position for us as well. We've asked her to be one of the better rebounding wings in the league for us as well.
Junior Tene Lewis continues to improve. She has had a great off-season, and came back in the best physical shape of her career. Tene is labelled as the program's defensive stopper, and we feel comfortable being able to put her on the floor and stop any outstanding opponent wing player. Tene dramatically impacts the game with her energy, and with her ability to pass the ball and get players into the game. We have asked her to work on being a little more offensive-minded and being able to score at times in our offense. But, Tene Lewis will always impact our program as a defensive stopper and someone who provides energy off the bench.
Sophomore Marisa Smith is coming off a solid freshman season, where she made big shots and had a big game vs. Savannah State in the Cincinnati tournament. Marisa's strengths are her ability to score from the arc or coming off screens. She has worked hard in the off-season to be a better scorer off the dribble and find ways to get to the foul line. Marisa has concentrated on strength and conditioning in the off-season, to be a more physical defender and a better defensive rebounder for the Falcons. Marisa Smith will certainly impact games against teams that play zone. I look for Marisa to have a big jump in performance from freshman to sophomore year.
Casey McDowell comes in from Indiana State with a reputation as a shooter. Casey has unlimited range, the deepest range on the team. She will be a very valuable role player against zones, and her leadership both on and off the floor is important for the young Falcon team. Even though she has sophomore eligibility, she is in her third year of college basketball, having practiced with us all last year. We are excited to have Casey on the floor this season, and I look for her to impact our program.
Freshman Carin Horne, from Lima, is a tremendous raw athlete with outstanding ability. Her strengths are multi-faceted. Carin can score from the arc, with three-point range. She has the ability to be a physical penetrator, and a person that can create her own shot. And, as a big, solid wing player, Carin does have the ability to play '2' or '3' and post up, at times, as well as any guard in our league. Carin, with hard work and focus, has the potential to be a MAC All-Freshman Team member.
Megan Thorburn comes in as perhaps the most highly-heralded freshman on the roster. Megan is a big wing, a 6-1 '2' or '3' player in the mode of Francine Miller. She can score in multiple ways -- from the arc, off the dribble or on a post-up. Megan has the ability to be a good defender because of her size and length, and I look for Megan to make an immediate impact and have the opportunity to start in our program as a freshman.
BGSUFalcons: The team seems to have a few more players for the 'big forward' position, as you've called it, than in the recent past.
CM: In our style of play, a key to the program is the ability to have versatile forwards that can play inside-outside, can score behind the arc, can penetrate or can post up. And, at the same time, they need to have the ability to guard slashing forwards or post-up forwards at the other end of the floor. I feel we have the most depth and talent at this position since our arrival.
We're excited about incoming freshmen Ali Mann and Liz Honegger. Ali Mann is a 6-1 forward that has tremendous three-point shooting range. She also has the ability to penetrate to the hole, but is a physical player, both offensively and defensively, in the post. Ali is a very competitive athlete, and brings intensity to the practice floor every day. We look for immediate impact from Ali Mann.
Liz Honegger, a 5-11 state champion in the discus and shot put, comes to Bowling Green after an outstanding high-school season in Indiana. She was listed as one of the top-five players in the state, making first-team all state. Her strengths include the ability to shoot the three. She has incredible wingspan for a 5-11 player, and plays a lot bigger than her height would indicate. Liz can play the '3', '4' or '5' for us, and create matchup problems for our opponents because of her ability to score in multiple ways. Liz is a tremendous worker in the weight room, and has instantly established herself as one of our strongest players.
Junior Sakima Smith is a talented offensive player, with the ability to score facing the basket. She also surprises bigger defenders with her ability to slash to the basket or in transition. Sakima's been asked to improve her strength and conditioning, which she has, and we look for her to have an impact in rebounding, both on the offensive and defensive boards. Sakima will be asked to play both the '4' and '5' positions this year, and she fits into the way Bowling Green plays because of her versatility both inside and outside. Sakima has learned to play harder during her first two years, and that will enable her to have more success for the Falcons during her junior and senior seasons.
BGSUFalcons: As we've discussed, you have a few more post players than in the past two years.
CM: JIll Lause is coming off a tremendous freshman year, in terms of shooting the basketball. Jill made a ton of big shots and proved to the whole league her ability to score facing the basket. Jill has completed an acceleration program over the summer, and she has come back in the best shape of her life. Jill has improved her footwork and her foot speed, and looks to fight for the starting center position. She has had a tremendous preseason, both in the weight room and on the court, and we're looking for a big improvement from her freshman to sophomore year.
Kelly Kapferer returns to the Falcons after a year off. Kelly has had a great summer in the weight room, and comes in very strong, ready and energized after her season off. Kelly has tremendous quickness up and down the floor and has the ability to impact both ends of the floor, with her foot speed, size and competitiveness. She is a versatile post player that can score from behind the arc, off the dribble, or with post moves. Kelly finished her sophomore season as the MAC Player of the Week in the final week of that season, and I feel that she has picked up where she left off during her sophomore year. We look for big things from Kelly this season.
Amber Flynn comes to Bowling Green with tremendous offensive credentials. She's got great instincts in the post. She's an undersized post player that can drive by slower big post players in our league. She is one of the best foul-shooting post players on the team, and has the ability to knock down 15- to-17-foot shots consistently. Her versatility, with her quickness and athleticism, will surprise many post players in this league. Amber has the ability to play both the '4' and the '5' for us, and during preseason workouts, has shown herself to be one of the best rebounding post players on the team.
Kim Nowakowski is a gifted '4' or '5' player. Her strengths include her ability to get up and down the floor in transition, her ability to score from 15 feet and in, and her work ethic. Unfortunately, Kim has suffered a broken foot. She broke it in the summer, and re-aggravated it in individual workouts. She had surgery Monday (Oct. 27), and the timetable for her return is uncertain at this point.
BGSUFalcons: You seem to have a challenging schedule in 2003-04, but a schedule with opportunities for success.
CM: Yes, I'm excited about our non-conference schedule. It's going to challenge our kids with programs very similar to us -- younger programs trying to establish themselves as solid, mid-major Divison-I programs. We play against multiple teams that have new coaches with less than three years of experience. We start on the road at Youngstown State, which was the site of our first win in the current era, and we will be going against a first-time head coach. Detroit, our second game of the season, will also be against a first-time head coach.
The negative of that is that there are no tapes of these teams, and we won't have much to scout on the new systems that will be in place. Also, we'll have to prepare our kids to face teams with the energy that new coaches bring to teams. It's exciting to be playing a competitive schedule, but one where you can find success. We'd like to build upon the successful non-conference success that we had last year. We hope that we can challenge the 7-4 non-league record that we had last season, to give us some confidence and some momentum going into the conference schedule.
We're excited about the conference season. The schedule-makers have provided us an opportunity to have three of our first four games at home this year, making January a very important month for us. We need to get off to a good start, because we end with four of our last seven on the road, including a final stretch of Ball State on the road on a Sunday, and a home game against Toledo on Tuesday. So, we play the two division co-champions in a three-day stretch to end the regular season. But, I think the non-conference schedule will be competitive and can prepare us for the conference race.
BGSUFalcons: One of the things you've tried to do in your first couple years is to restore the homecourt advantage at Anderson Arena. The potential exists to have five doubleheaders with the men's team this year. Is it safe to assume that you're happy about this development?
CM: The most exciting aspect of our schedule is the potential to play as many as five doubleheaders with our men's program. We had the number-one increase in attendance last year, raising our attendance by over 650 fans per game from the previous year and averaging over 1,000 fans per game. We look forward to building upon that. One of the ways we can do that is, we are fortunate enough to have a men's staff that is willing to play doubleheaders. To have, potentially, five of our 12 games as part of doubleheaders is a great advantage for us, and we look forward to having even larger crowds in 2003-04 and in the future.
Anderson Arena is a tough place for opponents to come in and play. With our improved depth and size, we look forward to building upon a stat that we feel is important. Bowling Green has led in 15 of the 16 conference home games over the last two years, but we haven't always been able to finish games off. With larger and larger crowds, better talent on the floor and better depth, we look forward to capitalizing on some of those leads that we've let slip through our fingers the last two seasons.
BGSUFalcons: How do you see the Mid-American Conference shaping up?
CM: The MAC remains a very, very competitive conference, with the West Division a strength right now. It was a tremendous senior class (last year) in terms of great players. Most teams return a lot of quality depth, but a lot of the star factor graduated this past season. So, it will be interesting to see who emerges from different programs as the star players in the league.
Because of some of that graduation, the MAC is up in the air as far as who is going to have the momentum, going into conference play, to be a championship team. But, clearly, one through 13 is very competitive in this league, and I believe that anyone can make a run at the title.
In the West Division, you would still have to think that Western Michigan is a strong contender for an NCAA repeat appearance, despite the loss of Kristin Koetsier. You would have to look at Ball State, despite the graduation of Tamara Bowie. You would have to look at Toledo as a potential favorite, with their ability to play without superstar Tia Davis last year. But, I think we can be a major sleeper in the race for the MAC championship this year. I'm cautiously optimistic, with nine people in our program that didn't play for us last year. One of the big words that we'll be talking about all year will be 'consistency.' With such a young team, if you can find consistency in your game, then you enable yourself to be successful. We will be striving for that consistency, and we'll be looking to see who's going to step up, day-in and day-out, for us. But, the parity in our league means you need to bring your A-game every night, or you're going to get beat, home or away.
BGSUFalcons: You've been putting your system in place over the past two years. With seven freshmen on this year's roster, does that have an effect on what you're trying to do?
CM: I think, as a coaching staff, we will be challenged to be patient with the young team. We will be challenged to teach, and not take things for granted. But, with the improved talent and overall depth, it will allow us to expand on our philosophy and our style. It may take us longer to incorporate everything into our playbook that we want to do, both offensively and defensively, but style-wise, we will add upon the system that we've had in place. The system over the first two years was a skeleton system that was tweaked in each year because of some injuries. But, we're excited to build upon that, and make it a more complete system. But, we will need to be patient, and to teach day-in and day-out.
When this coaching staff arrived here, we sat down and created a long-term plan, a five-year vision. We feel like we're on track. And, with the outstanding freshman class that we were able to secure in the recruiting wars, maybe we're even a little ahead of schedule. But, the program is going exactly the way we had planned. We are building toward championships down the road. We feel like we have a solid foundation, and can make a run this year, with some consistency and some patience. We couldn't be more pleased with the direction this program is heading.
