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| Matt Bollant had a 148-19 record in five years at Green Bay. |
New Illinois women's basketball coach Matt Bollant entered the chat room at 4 p.m. today. Bollant brings a 282-55 record, including a 148-19 record in five years at Green Bay. Checkout the chat recap.
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Matt Bollant: Glad to be here and am ready to answer your questions. |
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| Jim (Champaign): What do you know about the Illini team you're inheriting? You played (and beat) them this year, but what were your impressions? |
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Matt Bollant: They have a high level of athleticism, but need to become more skilled offensively. Defensively, they need to be more sound with the little things. |
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| Dave (Winona, Minn.): Congrats! Looking back on your career, what do you think is the main catalyst for your rise from Winona State, to HS coach, to Asst. and on up? |
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Matt Bollant: I would have to say recruiting and coaching high integrity, high energy kids. |
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| Shannon, CHampagne: Who will your assistant coaches be? |
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Matt Bollant: I'm currently working through that process and will take my time to find the right people. |
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| Palatine: How would you characterize your style of play? Do you envision adapting your style initially at Illinois to the abilities of the Illini players? |
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Matt Bollant: We will run a little more dribble motion rather than four out one in to fit the personnel here. |
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| Bernie: Do you think the current team has talent equal to or better than the Green Bay team |
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Matt Bollant: It's too early to tell on that. The Green Bay team is more skilled. That's something we hope to build with this team. |
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| Roy Champaign: How does it feel to be here? How do you plan on bringing the success you've had at Wisconsin- Green Bay to Illinois and are you excited with the challenge of bring Illinois back from the dead and resurrecting it into a well known name? |
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Matt Bollant: It feels great to be here. We will do it one day at a time and control what we can control. |
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| Cary Champaign: First off welcome Coach Bollant and family. My question is will you and your staff reach out and try to get the former Illinois players involved with your program? |
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Matt Bollant: Yes. We will work on building good relationships with our alumni. Making them feel valued is important to me. |
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| Hoops fan (Urbana): Welcome to the Illini, Matt. We are happy to have you wearing orange and blue. Looking forward to watching some women's hoops again. Do you have a preference about which arena to play in? The team moved to the Assembly Hall under coach Grentz because a number of games were selling out at Huff Gym. However, attendance has dropped drastically under her successor and the atmosphere at Assembly Hall is very poor when only a few hundred fans show up. Might we see a return to Huff? |
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Matt Bollant: It's too early to tell. For recruiting purposes, I'd like to stay in Assembly Hall. We hope to one day have big enough crowds that we can't fit them in Huff. |
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| Ellen (Raleigh, NC): Welcome to Illinois! Based on what you know about the state of the team/program, what are your challenges in rebuilding the program? |
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Matt Bollant: Building cultures such as work ethic and the ability to practice hard every day and sacrifice for the program. |
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| Champaign: What part of the game do you plan on emphasizing the most as head coach of the Illini? |
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Matt Bollant: Practice right. Play right. We have to practice the right way before we will look right in games. |
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| Emily (Winona): How do the current Illini players fit into your style of offense? |
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Matt Bollant: They fit in really well with the dribble motion. We'll find out more when we practice tomorrow. |
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| Rachel (Chicago): What's your first impressions of the city of Champaign? |
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Matt Bollant: Really like it. Love the people and love the values of a Midwest town. |
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| David (Decatur): What do you like to do outside of coaching during your free time. |
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| shelby menge, jacksonville il: When will you meet the players on the illini team? |
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Matt Bollant: I met them this morning for an hour and we'll have a 90-minute practice tomorrow. |
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| Park Ridge: Not a question per se, but just a Welcome to Illinois! We're fortunate to have you here. Best of luck to you and the team. |
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| Jeff Potrykus (Madison, WI): Matt, no question. Just wanted to say congrats on the opportunity. Perhaps we'll see you when the Illini swing through Madison. |
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| shelby mnege jacksonville il: Wecome coach glad you are here to coach the illini. |
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Matt Bollant: Thanks for all the well wishes. I'm looking forward to meeting more people in the Illini family. Being involved in the community is really important for me. |
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| KD: How long do you think it will take to turn this team around? |
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Matt Bollant: It all depends on how long it will take to build the culture. It's hard to know, but I know it will happen. |
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| Shannon: Just wanted to say welcome to Coach Bollant. We are so glad you are here! |
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Matt Bollant: Again. Thanks for all the questions and well wishes. I am really excited to be a part of the Illini. It has been great day for our family. |
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