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| Lacey Simpson will be counted upon as one of the team leaders by Coach Jolette Law this winter. |
Find out Lacey Simpson's thoughts on the upcoming 2009-10 Illinois basketball season as she and her teammates prepare for the start of official practice sessions. She'll be in the chat room Tuesday, Oct. 6, starting at Noon CT.
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| Moderator: Thanks for joining today's Lunchtime Chat! Lacey just arrived and we're about to get started... |
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| wallace h.(milwaukee): Hello Lacey! In my opinion you were the best defensive player in the big ten last season. I love your speed and quickness. I believe the only weakness in your game is a consistant midrange jumpshot. Did you work on that jumpshot this past summer? |
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Lacey Simpson: Thanks Wallace! This summer I worked more on my guard skills especially ballhandling and outside shooting. I like to let my defense create my offense but I definitely have been working on becoming a more consistent shooter. |
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| Shawn (Chicago): What have you done differently to prepare for this season, being your last in college? |
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Lacey Simpson: I've changed my mental outlook on how I'm preparing for this year. With such a young team this year I have to be more of a leader vocally as well as setting a good example for that. Of course I want to make my final year here my best yet, so I'm doing everything I can! |
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| Brittany Burton, Springfield, Illinois: Hey Lacey I'm one of your biggest fans. My question is, how much harder do you think you have to work on your defense to get defensive player of the year? P.S. You totally deserved it last year. |
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Lacey Simpson: I think that with all the new talent around I'll be able to make more plays on the defensive end this year. Winning defensive player of the year has been one of my goals since arriving here and as long I a go out and work hard everyday and help us get some wins things like that will take care of itself. |
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| Kiana (Oreana): Hey Lacey whats going on? What are your plans for after the season? Good luck this year and i will see you at the games! |
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Lacey Simpson: I'll take my chances to try and play professionally in the WNBA and also overseas. A lot of my former teammates are playing overseas and they're all having a great time. Besides basketball, I've got my bachelor's degree in sport management and am currently working towards a master's in human resourse educations. Once I'm done playing - which i hope is a ways down the road - I hope to get into marketing for a major company like Nike. |
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| Mary (Urbana): Lacey-
First I just wanted to say thank you, my daughter met you after a game last year, and you were so nice, and it made an impact on her, so thank you.
I'm wondering what the players think about playing in the Assembly Hall versus a smaller setting like Huff, which they used before you came here. I personally liked Huff because it was so intimate. What do you think?
Thanks and good luck this year! |
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Lacey Simpson: Mary, thanks for the kind words! I love getting out into the community and meeting our fans! As far as playing at Huff I think it would be cool for maybe one game and would be a really loud atmosphere, but for a whole season I love our facilities at Assembly Hall. Our hope is to fill that up this year! |
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| Emily (Urbana): What is your top highlight so far playing for the Illini? |
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Lacey Simpson: Getting the steals records last year meant a lot to me because that was one of my goals when I came here. Also, the Big Ten Tournament run during Coach Law's first year was an incredible experience! |
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| Megan (peoria): What are your goals for this year? |
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Lacey Simpson: As a team, I want to see us finish in the top 3 and have a shot at a Big Ten Championship. Also, we really want to play in the NCAA Tournament this year. Individually I'd like to be defensive player of the year and first team All-Big Ten. If I can accomplish those I think that means the team will have a pretty good year! |
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| Brittany Burton, Springfield, Illinois: What do you think will be the big difference between this season and last season? |
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Lacey Simpson: Obviously we have great freshman class so that will change a lot of things. We'll have more depth which means I'll get to rest a little bit and be fresher late in the game, and we'll have more speed and athleticism. Defensively we'll be able to be a lot more aggressive and maybe do some pressing. |
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| Jenn (chicago): Can you talk about what it's like to play for Coach Law? |
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Lacey Simpson: As a coach she drives me to work hard. She's so passionate. It makes you want to go out and work hard for her. She's so intense and all about business on the court but off the court she like a kid, joking around with the team. I love that she gets the most out of her players. |
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| Tony (Mahomet): What are you and Jenna doing as senior leaders to help out all of the freshmen? |
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| Tony (Mahomet): What are you and Jenna doing as senior leaders to help out all of the freshmen? |
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Lacey Simpson: We're kind of like their personal assistants! :) Whether its cooking for them, helping them do laundry, showing them how to get somewhere or trying to prepare them for what a practice is like we're trying to help them in any way possible. Last year we had a bunch of freshmen too so this make it 2 years in a row. We're just trying to make their transition as easy as possible! |
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| Bette (Saint Louis): As you think about entering your senior season, what do you think has changed the most about Illinois Women's Basketball in four years? |
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Lacey Simpson: Wow, when I think about it things have change a lot since I've gotten here. My first two years I played for Coach Grentz who is a great person! Then Coach Law came in with a different style that I love to play. It took a little time for us to adjust to the change but now I think we're headed for big things! |
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| Moderator: That's all the time we have with Lacey, thanks for all of the great questions! |
| Moderator: The next Lunchtime Chat is this Thursday, Oct. 8 with men's basketball coach Bruce Weber. Submit your questions HERE. |
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