3 Games in 5 Days Has Bluder Nervous

Dec. 15, 2010

Complete Coach Bluder Press Conference Transcript

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• Iowa and the Big Ten Network
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PARDON OUR PROGRESS! As friends of the University of Iowa and fans of the Hawkeyes know, the UI Athletics Department is well into a multi-million dollar revitalization of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. This important and exciting project has reduced for this season the number of ticket windows that are operational on game nights. Fans attending the home events of the 2010-11 UI men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling teams are invited to avoid game night delays by purchasing their event tickets online or in advance of game day. If your schedule doesn’t allow for an advance purchase, we recommend you consider arriving at the Arena a little earlier than originally planned. Go Hawks!

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Lisa Bluder is nervous and it has nothing to do with wondering if she is on Santa’s naughty or nice list. No, the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Iowa is apprehensive about a stretch of three games in five days from Dec. 18-22 with the first two on the road.

It begins Saturday in Brookings, S.D., against a South Dakota State team that is 4-5 and has lost four of its last five games.

“This little stretch has me a little bit nervous,” Bluder said Wednesday at a gathering with media in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “Playing three games in five days…it’s very easy to get motivated when you’re playing Kansas State or North Carolina or Iowa State and unfortunately, South Dakota State doesn’t have the name recognition as those other schools do and South Dakota State gave us a great game at our place last year. It was a very physical game and they are much stronger on their home floor.”

The No. 15 Hawkeyes (9-1) play the Jackrabbits on Saturday (5 p.m.) and at Drake on Monday (7 p.m.) before hosting Northern Iowa — Bluder’s alma mater — on Wednesday, Dec. 22 (7 p.m.). Fans are encouraged to wear white to the Northern Iowa game. The first 1,500 through the doors will receive a Lisa Bluder bobblehead. Another 500 will be won by fans with winning scratch-to-win cards that also offer season tickets and $5 off coupons at the Official Iowa Hawk Shop as prizes to be won.

While Hawkeye fans will receive a collectible with Bluder’s head bouncing here, there and everywhere, the coach wants her players to keep their heads securely fastened.

“We have to make sure that our heads are on straight and that we go in there fully focused like we did when we played Iowa State and Kansas State,” Bluder said.

She has an example from the Big Ten to get her point across: Minnesota traveled to Alabama A&M on Tuesday and was handed a 75-68 loss.

“This is one of those games we need to win and should win, but we have to be fully focused in order to get the win,” Bluder said. “Of these three games, two of them are on the road, two are against in-state rival, so there are a lot of things that make coaches nervous this time of year, especially when players are getting a little anxious to get home for a little holiday break.”

Iowa is coming off impressive home wins against Kansas State (68-62) and Iowa State (62-40), but now it returns to the road for its second true road test. The first was a 79-67 setback at North Carolina on Dec. 2.

“I would rather play at home all of our games, but for budget reasons you can’t,” Bluder said. “You do need to get some road experience, too. I think it’s important that the players can adjust to playing on road because in the Big Ten, half your games are on the road.”

When the next three games are over, so is the Hawkeye nonconference slate. They kick off the league season Dec. 30 at Penn State.

Getting the attention of the Hawkeyes as they close the next three outings is Bluder’s concern. To top it off, the game against South Dakota State comes a day after final exams have completed.

“I’m going to point out what happened to Minnesota; I’m going to point out how well (South Dakota State) played against Kansas State (a 56-51 Jackrabbit loss),” Bluder said. “If we address it with our players and they know ahead of time what we expect and what they’re going to be facing, they’ll handle it much better.”

The games at Drake and against Northern Iowa are special to Bluder. She coached 10 years at Drake and she graduated from Northern Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

“They’re still special,” Bluder said. “Ten years in the Missouri Valley League and obviously UNI is my alma mater, so that’s always going to be something special. Drake was my first Division I job. (Associate coach) Jan (Jensen) and (assistant coach) Jenni (Fitzgerald) both graduated from Drake and coached there for eight years. We opened up the Knapp Center, Jan Jensen’s jersey is hanging from the rafters as a retired player, so there are a lot of emotional parts to that basketball game. It’s not as emotional as it was, but it will always have a place in our heart, both of those schools will always have a place.”

A sweep of the final nonconference games would give the Hawkeyes a 12-1 record heading to Penn State. “Honestly, we were hoping for 12-1,” Bluder said. “We felt like if we could get through this stretch, and now we’ve got three very, very important games to go. But when we looked at this at the beginning of the year, (12-1) was our goal. We still have three games left to reach that goal.”