CHRISTY TITCHENAL: READY TO HELP

Interview by Bob Iacopi Photos by Don Anderson

Sophomore Christy Titchenal has not seen much playing time for the Cardinal this year, buthathasn’t kept this cheerful young lady from continuing to practice hard, play hard when she gets a chance, and study the game diligently from the bench. “My job is try to get better, and to help make the other players better, to make the practice drills as competitive as possible. My main assets are my shooting and my size (6’1”). I’m most comfortable taking the medium jumper, but I’m really working hard on improving my three-point shooting. I do special drills with Amy (Tucker) about once a week, and then really concentrate on the shot during practice. And even though I’m not playing much in games, I stay in shape with extra workouts on the bike or on the treadmill.”

What’s impressed you most about this year’s team? “I think we started out as a really inexperienced team. But now, we’re really coming into our own and showing a lot of grit. Ezi (Okafor) has been really well lately. When she goes into the game, she goes right to the offensive boards, which is something we desperately need. I’m a decent rebounder, but not like Ezi. She is so strong, so she can go right up after that ball against anybody.

Health problems have been an issue for Christy, and one solution to her illnesses was a bit of a surprise. “Last year was such a tough year. First, I suffered a stress fracture in my foot in January. It took a long time to rehab from that, and it was really hard getting back in shape.

“Then I had to have my tonsils taken out in March. I had been getting sick all during the last half the season, and it turned out that my tonsils were infected. Getting rid of the infection was really important. I have been a whole lot healthier ever since.”

So after you got healthy again, how did you spend your summer? “Early on, I took a vacation trip to London, with a side trip over to Paris on the Eurostar train through the Chunnel. I had never been to Europe before, and I really enjoyed the experience. Then I came back on campus, and worked out with Kelly (Conditioning Coach Kelly Clark), and worked at three of Tara’s basketball camps.

When we talked, the Cal game was still very fresh on everyone’s mind. “It was a tough game, big crowd and everything. And actually, we didn’t play that well on offense. We didn’t shoot very well. But we played a lot better defense than in the first game earlier in the year. So they didn’t shoot very well, either, especially early in the game. We held Alexis Gray-Lawson to eight points, and she made only three out of 18 shots. Their freshmen as a group generally couldn’t do too much against our defense.”

I reminded Christy that Cal center Devanei Hampton complained after the game about Stanford’s zone defense, and challenged the Cardinal to play player-to-player. Christy laughed about that. “It was really funny to hear that. I mean, this is a team game, not a bunch of people playing one-on-one. Our coaches get us ready to win the game, not the individual matchups.

“We played ‘zone on the make, man on the miss,’ which means that we went back into our zone defense after we scored, but played man-to-man after we missed a shot and Cal got the rebound. And we missed a lot of shots, so we were in our man defense about two-thirds of the time.”

I was curious about life on the road, especially on the upcoming crucial trip to play the Arizona schools. “We leave Wednesday after practice and get down to Tempe late in the evening. On Thursday morning, we have a shoot-around to get a feel of the court at Arizona State. Mostly, we work on our individual shots, but we’ll also run a little bit of the ASU offense, to get our defense ready for what’s coming. In the afternoon, we’ll have our pre-game meal at the hotel and then get ready for the game.

“On Friday morning, we pack up and drive down to Tucson. We’ll have a full practice that day. Generally, it’s not as intense as our regular practices at home, but we’ll be on the floor for a couple of hours. The Arizona game is at 2:00 in the afternoon on Saturday, so we’ll be back at the hotel early in the evening. Then we have a very early flight on Sunday. We’ll be up at 4:30 in the morning. The coaches want us to have as much of a free Sunday at home as possible.”

So what has been the emphasis in practice this week? “We’ve really been working hard on refining our triangle offense. What makes the triangle offense work? “Usually, Brooke takes the position on the inside and Kristen plays the high post, because she is a good outside shooter. But that’s not the most important thing. To make the offense really work, we all have to pass really well, we have to set good screens, recognize whether the defensive players are switching, and take advantage of whatever they are giving us.”

So what can we expect from Arizona State? “I think they will try to double down on Brooke and just try to smother her. They always play a very aggressive defense. They’re in our faces, putting pressure on our shooters. They’re really pumped to play us on their home court.”

I finished up our interview by asking Christy about her high school career in Santa Rosa. “We had a pretty good team at Ursuline High School. The highlight was probably my sophomore year when we went really deep into the playoffs. Along the way, we even beat Brooke Smith’s Marin Catholic team when we were a huge underdog. But they wound up beating us later in the playoffs. “ Do you ever give Brooke a hard time about beating her team back then? “No, we never discuss it” (this was said with a big smile).

And what about life after Stanford basketball? “I’m thinking about going to law school. There is no pre-law major at Stanford, but I’m majoring in Psychology and my main focus is on courses that will get me ready for law school. I do well with the academics, but time management is always an issue. But overall, I’m doing just fine.”

It sounds like the life a true student-athlete.

CLARE BODENSTEINER: ROLE MODEL

Interview by Bob Iacopi

Photos by Don Anderson

If there has been one constant throughout our series of interviews with the Stanford players, it has been the repeated assertion by everyone that Clare Bodensteiner represents a big piece of the heart and soul of this team. She’s the one, according to the players, who sets the level of intensity and consistency, during practice and in the games.

When we talked with Clare on Wednesday, she was flattered to hear the accolades. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me. I want to be a leader now, and someday I want to be a coach, while I’m still young enough and have the energy for all the travel. And then I’d like to an athletic director at a high school or something like that. So it’s really important for me to have the respect of my teammates now. I’m really excited to hear that.

“I’ve always tried to be a leader, even back in high school. You know, at that level, nobody plays much defense. But I tried to keep everyone involved. I want the responsibilities that come with leadership, and I enjoy it.”

So what is this future coach looking for during the final months of the season. “We still have to improve on some things. This is the time of year that we all work for, and we want to be at our best. As Candice already mentioned, rebounding is one of the most important things we have to work on, both offensively and defensively.”

What is Tara’s basic philosophy about offensive rebounding? “We send four players to the boards, and one drops back on defense. The point guard is usually the one getting back, but not always. Sometimes, the coaches want Roz (Gold-Onwude) to crash the boards because she is so athletic. Then Krista will drop back, or I’ll drop back. It depends on who we have on the floor.”

So how do you know who is doing what? “We talk about it during the game. Basically, when a substitute comes on the floor, we make sure who is guarding who, and which one of us will drop back on defense. By this point in the season, we all pretty much know our roles, and it’s just a matter of communicating with each other.”

Clare most often enters the game after five or ten minutes of play. Does she have specific instructions from the coaches when she goes on the floor? “Once in a while. If we aren’t doing a good job of getting the ball inside, or we aren’t boxing out of the boards, coach will tell me what adjustments she wants to make.

“For me, it’s really helpful to be able to watch the game from the bench before I go in. I can watch the tempo, see who is being aggressive on the other team, how they are defending us. So when I go onto the floor, I have a pretty good idea of what has to be done.

“It helps that I’m pretty athletic—not like Candice, of course—but I try to use my athleticism on defense. So much of playing defense is positioning. I’m never going to get a lot of steals. I’m just not quick enough. But what I can do is contain people, and not let them get open for easy shots. That’s what the coaches want, and I think I’ve been successful at it. Sometimes I defend the point guard, and sometimes the shooting guard. It depends on which opposing players are on the floor.”

What about scoring? I mentioned hat Clare looked so comfortable with her shot in the last game against Oregon State. “To be honest, I was just getting really good looks at the basket. Tara wants me to shoot the ball when I’m open, and I was open in the second half of that game. I always have the green light to shoot, but sometimes the opportunities aren’t there. I can’t create my own shot, like Cissy and Candice. I have to be a little more patient and not rush things. Often, my best play is to put the ball inside, because we are so strong in the paint. If our post players get the ball in the right position, there’s a very good chance they’re going to score. So there’s no sense in my forcing outside shots.”

Speaking of athleticism, I asked Clare about her high school career. “I played soccer, basketball, softball, track and cross country, so I was pretty busy. But I haven’t been able to play anything but basketball here at Stanford.”

We turned back to some game planning. How can we beat a Cal team that is hungry for a win at home? “Basically, we just have to compete. We’re going over there, it’s a tough road game, and Cal is really excited about playing us on their home court. We look at the game as a real challenge, and frankly, we like challenges. It’s a matter of us rising to the occasion, of playing the way we are capable of playing, especially on the defensive end.

“This isn’t something to get all worked up about. It’s just a basketball game. The main things are to compete, to have fun, to play well. If we play well, good things are going to happen.”

In an earlier interview, Candice Wiggins gave us an idea of what goes on at half time, and I asked Clare about Tara’s words to the team during the time-outs. “You might be surprised at how many adjustments we make during those time outs. A lot depends on how we’ve been playing. Sometimes, we just get a verbal pat on the back. But a lot of times, we talk about little things we can do to improve, go over our assignments, whether we are going to switch up on defense, things like that. There’s always the rebounding issue, and sometimes we just aren’t getting the ball inside often enough.

“We have very intelligent coaches, and they can see things on the floor that we can’t see, because we are caught up in the game and working on our individual assignments. So we listen, and then try to make the adjustments. If you watch carefully, you’ll see a lot of changes as the game goes on.”

Clare seems to have settled into a routine of playing 12 or 15 or 20 minutes a game, depending on the situation. Is she comfortable with that? “Sure. I’m looking to do whatever Tara wants me to do, to help the team. Right now, that’s my role, coming in off the bench and providing a spark. The important thing is to play good minutes, to make a contribution while I’m in there. Actually, it’s a very good position to be in. If we’re struggling, then I have a chance to help turn the game around, and that’s important to me.”

When a player comes out of the game, she always sits down next to Coach Karen Middleton for a little chat. What’s that about? “That’s the time when each of us hears specifically about what we’re doing well, what we need to improve. It’s one-on-one between coach and player, right in the midst of battle, and it helps a lot. Karen is very mild-tempered, and the conversation is always very soothing, but she makes her points.”

Does this team have a sense of humor? “Oh yeah, we have some real characters. Roz for one, she is so funny. And Candice. And despite that serious expression, Kristen Newlin is very funny, too. You know, everyone has a different personality, and we seem to mix together pretty well.”

Are you surprised at the progress of the freshmen? “Not really. They came out here in the summer and we played together a lot. We knew then that was going to be a good class. And because we lost so many seniors from last year’s team, the freshmen have had a lot of opportunity.”

I asked for a little information about Clare’s life off the court. First, how does she maintain her energy during a long season? “Basically, I eat a lot. Not necessarily big meals, but I eat all day, even during class. And of course, they feed us here, which is great because we always get really good food. If we had to feed ourselves all the time, we might get in trouble. We’re so busy, we can’t always think about nutrition.”

As for academics, Clare will get her undergraduate degree this spring. And then? “I hope to do graduate work in Education next year, but I’m still waiting to hear about that.”

But for now, Clare is everyone’s role model on the basketball court. She’s thrilled about it, and so are we.

CANDICE WIGGINS: A MID-SEASON UPDATE

Interview by Bob Iacopi

Photos by Don Anderson

As the regular Pac-10 season winds down to the last crucial weekends, and we look forward to tournament play in March, we thought is was time to sit down with our resident All-American and acknowledged team leader, Candice Wiggins, to find out where we are and where we’re going.

Candice didn’t hesitate with her evaluation. “I’m really excited about this team. We’re just constantly getting better. I knew at the beginning of the year, it would take us a while to really get into it, but once we got going, I think we are showing how our confidence is growing, and how we are maturing as a team.”

I pointed out that we seem to seeing that most with Ros Gold-Onwude. Candice flashed that famous smile. “Oh yes, definitely, she is improving every day. She came in, and she knew she had to figure things out, but now that she really knows what she is doing and her role with the team, and she’s been awesome for us.”

Because Candice is right up there with the national leaders in scoring, I was curious about her routine, and whether she knew before the game whether this would be a big night. “You know, how I’m shooting before the game really isn’t a good indicator of how I’m going to do in the game itself. Warm-ups are just that, warm-ups. In the last game before Cal, I was just shooting horribly in the warm-ups, and then I scored 30 in the game. The game is very different from warm-ups. There’s no correlation.

So what is your routine in the pre-game warm-ups. “I always have to shoot a lot of free throws, because that is so important. Especially if we aren’t playing at Maples, I want to get a feel for the rims. And a lot of times, you’ll have fans sitting behind the backboards, and I want to see how that is going to affect my vision on the hoop. Like at USC, for example, that’s a really different kind of gym, and I want to get a feel for the lane and the stands. The rims may not be that harder or softer, but the whole arena is much different than Maples, and it’s important that I get a feel for it.”

I pointed out that even though Candice is an outstanding free throw shooter, there were a couple of games early in the season when she seemed to be out of rhythm, particularly in the first half. “Free throws are all mental. You just go up to the line, you get the ball, and you think, I want to shoot free throws. Coach Tara is always telling me, ‘We want you at the line. We want you to step up there and be happy that you are at the line.’

“But it can be funny. Sometimes you can be a wonderful three throw shooter and hit 15 in a row in practice, but once the game actually starts, it’s a whole new ball game. I just have to tell myself to relax, and how I have been shooting free throws my whole life, and this is no different.”

Next, we turned our attention to this week’s games. First in line is University of California, Santa Barbara. This is not a conference game, not nearly as critical as Cal, so how does the team prepare?

“You know, we’re always concerned about the other team, but more importantly, we are more worried about what our team is doing. It’s really all about us, rather than them.

“But because UCSB is a non-conference game, it’s really important for us to show the other conferences that we are ready to play any team, anywhere. Santa Barbara is a competent team, so we have to play our best. We’ll look at film today (Wednesday) and then set up our game plan.”

And then, here comes Cal. I pointed out that in Wednesday’s edition of USA TODAY, the Cal coach had made a point that even though she is a structured coach, her team seemed to play the best when she just turned them loose. What does that mean for Stanford?

“Well, there’s no doubt that Cal has a lot of talent, especially with that freshman class. They have come in and stepped up right away. They are very young, and very aggressive. And we have to be aware of that, because they are going to play like they have everything to gain by beating us, and nothing to lose.”

So what do we have to do when Cal is playing a helter-skelter game, pushing the ball down the floor, and shooting it right away? Candice then started to show her maturity. “We know they are going to do that, we just have to stay disciplined on defense, and play the game according to our rules. We can’t get caught up in their fast pace. We want to play our game, not theirs. They are pretty young, so we have to establish right away that we are going to play Stanford basketball, not Cal basketball.”

So how is Candice herself working on defense? “I work on it every day. I mean, I have a lot of stuff to work on. And defense is just so important in Tara’s game. In high school, it was different. I was a shooter first, and a defender second. But now defense and rebounding are so much more important, so I am working on that.”

Will we see a lot of zone defense for the rest of the season? “Well, that depends on the situation. When we play zone, sometimes it is hard to close down on the outside shooters. But we mix it up, depending on the team and the match-ups.

“We miss last year’s seniors so much on defense. You never really realize how much you miss someone until they’re gone. But collectively, we are trying to step and fill the voids. We’re not counting on any one person to be the stopper; we all have to work at it.”

So what is the one thing that you want to see Stanford do better in February and March? ‘Well, there are a lot of things we can do better. But the biggest is rebounding. I think we can be so much better on the glass. We have to be aggressive all the time. We don’t want to be known as those nice girls from Stanford. We need more tenacity.

“And then the other thing is more technical—free throw shooting. That is so much of a key, especially in close games.”

How does Candice keep herself in shape and maintain her strength, here at the end of the season when everyone is getting tired? “I’m not a big vitamin and mineral supplement person. My experience with the international teams got me off of that. Sometimes, strange substances can get mixed in with those supplements, and I don’t want any part of that.

“This what I am—a string bean. I don’t have to watch my weight. Right now, I’m at 145 pounds. I was at 150 at the start of the season, but 145 is just about right. I’m never going to be much different.”

I expressed some curiosity about half-time routines. We as fans see the players and coaches leave the court and then come back 15 minutes later, without a clue about what if any changes are being made. What goes on during the intermission?

“We relax, rest, drink a little water, and really talk about the tone of the first half. We usually write something on the blackboard, as a team, before the coaches come into the room. We remind ourselves to box out on the defensive boards, and to play transition defense--the main things that we need to work on.

“Then the coaches come in and talk to us. If we played really well, then they encourage us to keep it up. If we played poorly, then the coaches focus on the things we need to do better. Sometimes, it’s not so pretty in that locker room.

“Tara generally does not single out one player for comment, unless she knows we are not playing as well as we can. If a player is doing as well as she can, then coach will not single her out for criticism. But she has called me down for not playing as well as I can, because she knows I can do better.

“But one of the things that I really, really admire about Tara is her ability to stay consistent with her approach to the game. She doesn’t get too excited if we are ahead by 15, and she doesn’t come down on us too hard if we are behind. She just wants us to play like we are capable of playing.

“The same thing is true after the game. If we won, that’s great but not necessarily wonderful. If we lose, that’s not good but we can get better.”

In recent games, we have marveled at Candice’s ability to hit the three-pointers. But is that her favorite shot? “No, what I like best is going inside, hitting the close shot, getting fouled, and making the free throw. I like the old-fashioned three-point play. It gives everyone so much energy when I make that play. It gives us momentum.

“Don’t get me wrong. The long three-pointers are great, and they can change games, too. But I love that inside game.”

Against Oregon State, Candice found herself wide open in the first half and responded by knocking down three-pointers. What was going on? Were the Beavers collapsing on the middle. “No, not really. Most of those three-pointers were on transition. They just weren’t getting back on defense and matching up with us very well.

“But sometimes, the defense doesn’t matter. I just want to shoot the threes. I don’t care if anyone is on me, I just feel so confident with the shot. I guess I’m just over-aggressive on offense.”

If that’s being over-aggressive, we’ll take it every time!