Typically coaches schedule non-threatening opponents for their opening exhibition matchups. Apparently Quentin Hillsman missed the memo.
The Syracuse women's basketball team gets its first look tonight at 7 in Manley Field House against Team Adidas, a team Hillsman believes will be one of the best Syracuse will play all season long.
"They're going to be very good," Hillsman said. "Honestly, they might be one of the top four or five teams that we play this year. So it's going to be a tough game for us. If we don't come out and play with some effort they are going to get us."
Hillsman kept on repeating Friday's exhibition will be a tough matchup and mentioned that Team Adidas is a roster of post-graduate players looking for the opportunity to play professionally, complete with a legitimate coach - former Cincinnati assistant Bret McCormick - and players that don't see the game as an exhibition.
If Hillsman wanted to make his coaching debut a difficult one, he succeeded.
Thankfully for him, his official record at SU doesn't begin until Nov. 12 against Penn State. These next two games will only determine how prepared Syracuse is to start the regular season.
"The focus is just to get a good game pattern, get a good feel for the things we need to do for the regular season," Hillsman said. "We're just trying to build a foundation offensively and defensively."
Hillsman said he has drawn up game plans and expects to run several different schemes both offensively and defensively but acknowledges that execution may still be a work in progress. SU has only had about a dozen formal practices since Media Day on Oct. 14.
For the players, tonight's game will be an opportunity to read each other in a real game situation.
"I treat (the exhibition) as important as a normal game," junior center Vaida Sipaviciute said. "At the same time we just want to see how our team has developed. I just want to see how good we are as a team."
Sipaviciute talked about building team chemistry as a byproduct of playing these preseason games, something Syracuse lacked in many forms last year. With a new, up-tempo style of run-and-gun offense Hillsman implemented for this season, chemistry will be a heavily-scrutinized necessity for success.
Point guard Cintia Johnson said she looks forward to getting on the floor and running the transition game against a formidable opponent.
"Our game plan is to run every play thoroughly and all the way through," Johnson said. "We want to just get off in transition and score in transition."
With a full-court offensive press like Syracuse's, conditioning will also be an important factor and tonight's exhibition will be a chance to see how well SU can physically move on the court for 40 minutes. Johnson believes the team is already in better shape than last year thanks to heavy training in practice.
Two heralded newcomers will make their debuts tonight - junior college transfer Fantasia Goodwin and freshman Nicole Michael. Goodwin led the nation in scoring in back-to-back seasons, averaging 28.1 and 26.1 points, respectively, for Monroe (N.Y.) College. Michael was the No. 50 recruit out of Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep, where she averaged 25.3 points and 13.2 rebounds her senior season.
But the most watched debut will be on the sidelines.
If things go by plan, Hillsman will watch his team compete aggressively and play competitively - never mind that it's just an exhibition.
"More than anything I'm going to be looking for people competing," he said. "For us that will be the most important thing, just our effort. So I'm looking for people just to compete and play hard."
Four returners out
Syracuse will dress only nine players, including two walk-ons, for Friday's exhibition against Team Adidas. Seniors Ashley McMillen and Tracy Harbut, and sophomores Brittany Smith and Sara Antolick are all out with injuries.
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