Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper and SEC Freshman of the Week Sara Puckett met with the media on Friday ahead of No. 9 UT’s home match-up with Georgia State slated for 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Tennessee is a perfect 8-0 on the season, marking the best start during Harper’s career as a head coach, and is ranked in the Top 10 for the first time since the Dec. 31 poll in 2018. The Lady Vols have claimed wins over No. 23/22 South Florida and No. 12/21 Texas and, in their most recent outing, took a gritty 64-58 victory on the road against a Virginia Tech team that was receiving votes.
Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper
On making AP Top 10…
“You know, we’re excited to be there. I think our team actually talked about it a little bit this week at practice. I don’t know that that’s our ultimate goal, but we’re excited about how we played to be able to get to that point.”
On Sara Puckett coming off bench…
“Well, Sara can do a lot. We can put her in at several different positions. We run plays to her. We can run plays to other people, and she is a very good passer in those situations. I was just thinking about it this morning and how versatile she is, and how much we need her. I’m so proud of her. She’s given us exactly what we thought we would get.”
On Tamari Key being a shot blocker…
“Tamari Key has good timing. Obviously, her size is really important. Her arm length, not just how tall she is but her arm length, is a big part of that. As of late, her positioning has been really good. She understands when she can come off of the post, when she needs to stay back, and she’s quick to the ball. I think right now she just has a has a good awareness of where she needs to be.”
On Tamari Key’s motivation…
“Well, I think right now she wants to be good, and she wants to affect the offensive player, and she’s doing that a lot with her blocked shots. So, I think she’s very motivated.”
On Sara Puckett being who she was expected to be…
“I think coaches usually have a pretty good idea of what they’re going to get from players with their backgrounds, but you never know. To have a player come in and be who she is, it’s really exciting – really, really exciting. I think a lot of that has to do with her background, how hard she’s worked leading up to coming to college. Also, I think a lot of it is our veterans and how welcoming and how helpful they have been to our entire freshman class.”
On what to make of current offensive progress, and where they can improve…
“We can still get better, offensively. There’s no doubt about it. There’s still plenty of room for improvement – whether that be in terms of our screening, our shot selection, or just our overall execution or timing, being on the same page, communication, shooting – there are a lot of aspects of our offense that we can continue to work on, and we’re still putting a premium on improving in that area.”
On if she has dealt with bad free-throw shooting before, and how she deals with it…
“When your team is not shooting free throws well, and they’re capable, I think you do several different things: you practice it more, you talk about it, and then you stop talking about it and don’t mention it at all. You’re really going to try a little bit of everything. They’re capable. They literally just have to walk in there and knock them down. This is one of the first times that I’ve actually talked to the team about, ‘What do you need? Why are we not making them, and are you feeling pressure?’ (I asked) where are they at mentally, because I do think it’s pretty mental with our team, because they can make them.”
On if going down the road Sara Puckett can be paired with Tamari Key at the post…
“One thing that we saw at Virginia Tech, they were playing a guard on Sara (Puckett), and we were able to post her up with that guard. She can post up post players. She can take them out in the court, out on the floor. We just get to use her versatility, and I thought down the stretch the matchups that we had were in our favor to really get the ball to Sara (Puckett) in that fourth quarter.”
On the fact that Georgia State likes to play fast and creates a lot of turnovers…
“Well, we have to show poise against the press and against a little bit of pressure. I think for us, when we talk about turnovers, it’s to take care of basketball. Sometimes we want to do too much; we try to force something that’s not there. So, we have to be aggressive, but it’s also being a little bit more patient, offensively. I think that will clean up some of our offensive woes, but also eliminate a lot of turnovers.”
On being on the stretch where you just are focusing on your team and playing basketball…
“I’m really excited about this stretch. I was very excited about this week in particular, because we were going to get team practices, we’re going to get rest time, and we’re going to get individual practices and position work. We are going to get a lot done this week, and it’s good to walk in the gym and (see) you’ve got players in there shooting. It’s always fun to see. When you finish finals, the weight is off your shoulders. They get to be a little bit more free. This is their time to feel what it is like to be a pro. It’s what it feels like right now – they play basketball, eat, sleep, play basketball. And they’re excited about this time. We’ve also really challenged them to be in the gym more now that they have more free time. You know, being at home just feels good. We get to play in Thompson-Boling in front of our fans. We’re real excited about this stretch.”
On being undefeated, ranked in the Top 10 without Rae Burrell…
“We have a lot of players that have stepped up. I think what you see is just some grit and toughness and maybe a chip on some shoulders, and that is good. I like a team with a little chip on their shoulder. I think the challenge now is to continue to have that. When you’re 8-0, sometimes you relax. The one thing that we have not seen from this team is that. We’ve not seen them relax. They have not come in to practice complacent. They come in and fight and push every day. We openly talk about it. We openly talk about how we’re going to get better and why we can’t just stay where we’re at.”
On whether Rae will be back before January…
“You know, at this point, I don’t know. We’re hoping we’ll know a little bit more in the next week or so, but she’s still rehabbing, and we’re going to see where it goes.”
On how Rae Burrell has embraced being a leader off the court…
“You know, I think it’s hard. I think first off when you were injured, and you’re taken away from your team. I think it’s really, really hard to stay engaged. I’ve been there. I’ve witnessed it numerous times as a coach. You just feel so removed because you’re not right in the battle, so to speak with your teammates. So, I think for her, she’s been a great cheerleader for them during the games and practices, I think she’s been really positive with them. I think that’s important. And right now, trying to become even more engaged in practicing whether she’s in a passing drill that she can do or she’s staying on the sideline, helping some young players. I think you when you’re injured you have to be intentional about finding the right moves otherwise you can start clothing and that’s where Rae is right now. She’s really trying to be intentional about how she can help his team.”
On how encouraged she is by Brooklynn Miles’ recent performances…
“I’ll be honest with you, she’s played well for us. We’ve needed what she can bring, and I think what we’ve seen from day one was her defensive presence on the ball, in particular. (She’s) setting the tone with her aggressiveness, utilizing her quickness, but now she’s really developed some poise about her, offensively, and a little bit of confidence in running the team and moving people around. Her voice is a little bit stronger, I think, as a point guard on the offensive end. So that’s good to see. I think that’s her personality. And with her playing well and finding teammates, I think that just gives her a little bit more confidence and we’ll probably continue to see her grow. That’s where I think we will go with her.”
On what she would say to fans about the upcoming home games…
“Oh my goodness, come watch this team. This is a team that, to me, is easy to embrace. They’re just going to give you everything they’ve got, and they leave it out on the court, and fans want to see that. They want to see some passion and fight and toughness. And that’s why I think our fans love this basketball team, in particular. So, you know, we have a solid product. We’re on a win streak, and it’s time to get out and see this team play.”
On why she has a good relationship with this team…
“We try to be open with them and talk to them about specifics, what we’re trying to do. I told them the other day that sometimes I may makeup something to come in and yell at them about. We’re going to try to find ways to continue to push them, but I don’t think they can feel that unless they know you love them, unless they know that you genuinely care about them as human beings. And we do we love these girls, period. And then they’re also really good athletes, but as people, I’ve really enjoyed being around them.”
Tennessee Freshman Guard/Forward Sara Puckett
On team culture and scoring…
“I just think it says that we’re really about each other. We go out there and we play for each other, for the coaches, for the staff, and we’re just all in it together. We’re not necessarily focused on just what we do individually, but how the team does, and that personally, is my main mindset. I want the team to win, and so I’m going to give 100 percent effort every time I’m on the floor. And I know that every single person that is on the bench and on the floor with me is going to do the same thing.”
On making it to the AP Top 10 for the first time in nearly three years…
“I mean, it’s very exciting. We were all just kind of on our heels waiting until it came out. But you know, we’re not satisfied; we just want to keep climbing, growing and keep getting better together. That is just our goal every day when we go into practice.”
On how she’s progressed over eight games…
“I feel having eight games under my belt has been very beneficial. This is because I get to kind of see how college basketball is, how I fit into the system and how it goes. I’ve really enjoyed it, and I just can’t wait to take this experience and keep growing with my team.”
On settling into the offense…
“I mean, my teammates give me the ball. I’m going to look for my shot. If I don’t have it, then I’m going to kick it out, because I know they’re going to hit it. So, I’m just being confident in myself because they put their confidence in me, and that’s just really what I’m focusing on.”
-UT Athletics
