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.