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Challenging Schedule Gives Duke Special Opportunities
12/10/2009 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
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By Joanne P. McCallie, Duke Head Coach
Take From GoDuke The Magazine
DURHAM, N.C.-- One of the most frequently asked questions I've fielded this year concerns the strength of our schedule. No question it is the toughest schedule in the ACC and one of the toughest in the nation, along with Connecticut's. We're playing 11 teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year, including two that reached the Final Four - Stanford and national champion UConn. I'm no fan of preseason polls - they are really just beauty contests, what others think of you - but our schedule includes the top three teams in most of those polls in UConn, Stanford and Ohio State.
There is a philosophy behind our schedule and there are reasons for most of the teams we're playing outside the league. Sure we could schedule 15 nonconference games that would allow us to go undefeated and protect ourselves and our record, but I have never believed in that. I'm not interested in being undefeated without a challenge. I think that women's basketball has grown enough that the quality of the schedule for every team should be examined thoroughly and people should know if they're serious about getting better or not. I think it's clear that we're very serious about getting better.
I love big games and I'd love all games to be big games. One of the ways you accomplish that is to make sure you play the best. That gives you the opportunity to beat the best, learn from your experiences and move forward. The women in our program are tuned in to playing at the highest level. They get excited for challenges. Sadly, some people look only at records to determine if a team is super, but I think many others judge you by what you go after. I know recruits do. For the people who are watching our program, I want them to know that our goal is to be the best at everything. And I want our players to know how serious we are about them, so we have a serious schedule.
If our schedule wasn't challenging and we were just going to wait for the ACC games to get here, we'd really be reducing our opportunity to become a great team. We want to be great at the end of March and into April, and that's really the only time we want to be great. We can be great all year, that's true, but at the same time we have to find out things about our team that will help us become great when it counts. So we schedule to prepare for March and April.
Kate Senger, our director of basketball operations, does a spectacular job in helping us put the schedule together. As I mentioned earlier, there are reasons behind most of the games. For example, our opening weekend we went to Houston Baptist so we could get Karima Christmas back to her home, then we went to Texas A&M to play a team that knocked us out of the NCAA Tournament two years ago. Obviously we have respect for that program, but sometimes things just make sense and it seemed to me that it would be a good idea to get another shot at them. Plus, playing a two-game set like that helps you prepare for similar situations in the NCAA Tournament, where each weekend you have to win two games to advance.
We had Stanford here last year and naturally we have to return that game. Of course the Big Ten sends us Ohio State because they love us so much and want to give us the best opponent. We're playing Maine to support my former school and one of my former players, Cindy Blodgett, who is now the Maine coach. And also, lobster for the team seems like a good thing to do.
USC is a return for that incredible game we had out there last year. The mid-majors we have are fantastic. To have Charlotte come here - they won the Atlantic 10 last year. Temple will be tough. I think the beauty of our schedule is not just the marquee games but also the mid-majors - there are challenging environments, physical teams and tough matchups.
Connecticut offered to come here, so do you turn down the best team in the country, the national champion? I don't think so. You bring them in. Then next year we will go up there. It's a series we'd like to continue. I think it's great to set up these incredible venues. I know we get plenty of that in the ACC, that's fabulous, but when you look at ESPN and look at the marquee games, you've got to put yourself out there a little bit. You've got to have some guts. You've got to want to play teams. You can't back away, because that just creates a back-away spirit and things don't go the way you want them to. I just believe you've got to pursue challenges. They might make you slightly nervous, but it makes for some great practices when our team looks at that schedule. It's true that opponents motivate.
Recruits also want to see the commitment we have to playing the very best. Putting one very good team on your schedule doesn't count. The bottom line is that you've got to show a consistency to play the best, go after the best and beat the best. Last year we had some fun with that because we had some success, winning at Tennessee and beating Stanford here. Those were very exciting games that were great for women's basketball. We managed to get ESPN to cover the Stanford game in December, and they never cover December games. So a lot of that stuff is important to keep pushing this program forward.
What I'm saying is that it's a compilation of many factors that make a great schedule. I think our team knows that every schedule we put out is going to be a tough one. But they also know that I believe in them. I want our players to have the opportunity to do special things and the opportunity to have fun, and I believe a challenging schedule does that.
Joanne P. McCallie is in her third season as the Duke women's basketball coach. The Blue Devils posted records of 25-10 and 27-6 with two NCAA Tournament berths in her first two years.
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