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Chat real: Stacy Frese
Iowa State guard talks about the team's play
Posted: Wednesday February 16, 2000 05:06 PM
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CNNSI Host: Welcome to today's chat with Iowa State women's basketball player Stacy Frese. Hi Stacy, thanks for joining us!
Stacy Frese: Thanks very much for having me.
From Mike: From Mike: What are you doing differently to prepare for Kansas tonight?
Stacy Frese: I think we're going through things a lot more mentally at this time. We learned a lot the last time we played them. We need to be more physical. We can't bow down to the pressure. We need to be more aggressive offensively.
From Scott: Where do you think the hardest place to win a road game is besides Hilton Magic?
Stacy Frese: I'd probably have to say Texas Tech. With their fan support and their crowd. It's a tough place to play. Their defense, too, with all the pressure. You can get flustered. It's a tough atmosphere to play in.
From Barb Ulrich: You are my 9-year-old daughters role model. Who was or is your role model?
Stacy Frese: I'd probably have to say my family. My older sisters both received basketball scholarships. I learned a lot watching them and how hard they played and practiced. I really learned a lot from them.
From Guest: Hi Stacy, and congrats on another great season. I know you're a lefty, and I am wondering why/how you play basketball right handed?
Stacy Frese: I'm ambidextrous. I can do things both-handed, I guess. I like to dribble better with my left hand, I write and bat left handed. I play tennis right handed, but throw left-handed. I guess I'm just mixed up a little bit.
From Pam: The team has struggled somewhat lately. I'm wondering if it is because Coach switches players in/out too much that you aren't able to get a flow going between the players that are on the floor.
Stacy Frese: We just need to become more consistent on the floor. We need to do what coach tells us to do and come in prepared for every game.
From Ryan Mason: You are my favorite player. What is your favorite memory playing basketball.
Stacy Frese: Probably last year's win over UConn. Making it to the Elite Eight. Because nobody expected us to do it. We did it as a team together. That made it much more special.
From Jeff: The team has been struggling on the road against lesser teams. What seems to be the trouble? What steps are being taken to help alleviate that?
Stacy Frese: We struggled in one game on the road. I think that, as I said before, we need to become more consistent and play with more emotion. When we go on the road, some teams are more prepared for us and play with more emotion than we have played. We need to overcome that and just play harder than them.
From Jonathan Altes: How do you feel about the Cyclone's chances in the NCAA tournament this year?
Stacy Frese: I think it really depends on how we finish out the rest of the year. Where we're seeded and what bracket. And whether we get to play at home or not. Those things really affect how you do in the tournament. I think if we can pull together, it'll really help our chances in the NCAA.
From Big Johnnie: What are your plans for next year? In my opinion you have what it takes to excel at the next level and I was hoping to be able to continue watching you for years to come.
Stacy Frese: I would like to continue playing if I could. Either in the US or overseas. It will depend on the success of our team at the end of the year, whether I get to play or not. I want to get my MBA. It will depend on where I get accepted, though, as to where I go.
From Guest: Do you think that with all this public attention you're getting that other teams will try and guard you more and not let you shoot as often? If so, how do you handle that?
Stacy Frese: As a point guard, I think my job is to do what our team needs. If they're going to be guarding me more, I'll give the ball to the player who's hot. Our job is to win.
From Jon: How do you prepare yourself mentally for the tougher games? Any superstitions?
Stacy Frese: I just try to go through things in my mind before the game. I go through scouting reports. I go through plays and different sets that we'll run that day. When you step out on the court, you want to be ready so things just happen. I have a lot of game-day rituals. I eat Raisin Bran every day. I prefer Post. *laughs* Before the game, I do the same dribbling routine. Megan Taylor and I put Flex-All on our legs every day before the game.
From Howard & Joyce Gilman: As Captain of the team, what will you do in the game against Kansas tonight to get your team members to relax and have fun while they are playing?
Stacy Frese: I think we talk about it a lot. We play a lot better when we play with emotion and when we're having fun. We try to get everyone to relax and have a good time. I think everyone knows that we play better when we're relaxed.
From Guest: It has been a pleasure watching you play. Can you comment on the freshmen players?
Stacy Frese: I think the freshman players have added a lot of the team. Lindsey Wilson, especially, is very intense. She plays with a lot of emotion and excitement. She's very athletic and very strong with the ball. Z also has a lot of potential.
From Guest: I know Coach says not to think ahead to the NCAA, to think about here and now. But how do you do that?
Stacy Frese: I think you sometimes think about the future, about the NCAA Tournament and how exciting it would be. But we realize that to get there, we have to take care of business now. Focus on short-term goals and take it a game at a time. If we don't do it now, things won't happen in the future and we won't make it into the tournament.
From Guest: Now that you are a rated team and recognized as a good team, is it harder to play with the intensity that you had before.
Stacy Frese: I think we're in a different position now than we have been in the past. It's harder on us every game we play. Every team is fired up, ready to beat us. We're the ones being hunted, I guess. We need to have more intensity than them and overcome their emotion. We have to want it more than they do.
From Guest: Do you know the origin of Coach Fennelly's tapping of each player on the shoulder before the game starts?
Stacy Frese: I think that when he wins a game and thinks back to all the things he did before the game, he does the same thing. He used to wear the same outfit each shootaround because he won a game in it. I think that's why the team does the things it does, because of the things Coach does.
From John: My 9 year old daughter wants to shoot the three like you do, but in doing so she looses all shooting skills and just pushes it up. What's more important this early, a good form, or results?
Stacy Frese: I think that, at that young of an age, it's probably more important to focus on basics and fundaments. Practicing over the years, a person will get better, with a good tutor. For myself, it was just practicing a lot, and the skills will come in the future.
From Guest: When you graduate, how do you see Junod fitting in to the lineup?
Stacy Frese: I think that it will be a different type of team next year. They'll have two point guards with Junod and Wilson. Junod's a stable player who doesn't make a lot of mistakes. She'll get some playing time, either at the one or the two. A very stable player and she has the potential to become a very good player.
From Debbie: Hi Stacy! I'm a loyal Cyclone fan and ISU alum living in Lady Vols territory! Of the current top five teams, which do you think would be the most interesting match-up with Iowa State?
Stacy Frese: I think any of them would be. Just because the top five teams are a lot more athletic than us. I think we can match up with them. We'd have to use our defense to force them shoot the three more than they like. I think UConn has a lot more three-point shooters this year than last year. So it would be a tough matchup. But I think it would be a lot of fun to play any of the top-five teams.
From Guest: Stacy, what do you do to bounce back from a tough loss?
Stacy Frese: I think you have to come together as a team, both mentally and physically. You have to take our your frustrations against your opponents and not on each other. You can't get down on yourself or your teammates. Once you do that, it all goes downhill. That's our strength. Once we lose a game, it hurts us so bad that we just want to play again and get back on the court to prove ourselves again.
From Guest: How has having men on the scout team helped you as a team?
Stacy Frese: I think that it has made us much better. Every day in practice, we go against guys who are stronger than us, faster than us, more athletic, more talented than us. It pushes us to become better players and a better team.
From Guest: What do you do to maintain your composure in a game where maybe the other team is being very physical and/or the officiating is not consistent?
Stacy Frese: I think you have to try to come together as a team to support each other. If a person makes a mistake or a turnover, your teammates have to support each other. You can't back down. You can't blame the refs if they're not calling fouls. You have to let people be physical with you and you have to fight back. You can't give up.
From Craig Jenkins: What were the team's goals heading into the season? And how do you feel about them going into the stretch run?
Stacy Frese: Our main goal was to get into the NCAA Tournament. From there, we still want to win a championship. I still feel like we have a chance if we do well in the last five games. We really want to get as far as possible in the NCAA tournament.
From Tom Fischer: Do you ever scrimmage with the men's team? Can they keep up with you?
Stacy Frese: No, we don't really play each other. There's obviously a big difference between men's and women's basketball. I'm not sure we could compete with them on the court. We could maybe shoot better than them, but it would be tough.
From Guest: What is on your mind as you head into your final days of playing college ball.
Stacy Frese: I think the end is drawing near. I think that I've had a really successful career so far. But there's a lot more I want to accomplish before it's all over.
I'll miss my teammates. That's probably the best part of the whole thing, how far we've gone. I've been doing this for a while, though, and I'm ready for something else.
CNNSI Host: Thanks for joining us today, Stacy. Good Luck tonight and the rest of the season!
Stacy Frese: See ya. Thanks!
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