Q&A with Lindsay Whalen

Minnesota's Lindsay Whalen has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week for the second straight week after leading the Golden Gophers to a 2-1 record. The sophomore guard averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.7 steals per game in the Golden Gophers three tilts. As a true freshman last season, Whalen led Minnesota in scoring and finished second in the Big Ten averaging 17.0 points a contest and was a member of the Big Ten All-Star Team this past summer. This year, she is currently second in the Conference in scoring at 21.3 points per game and also is second in the League in field goal percentage, shooting an impressive 66.7 percent from the field as the Golden Gophers are off to a 5-1 start. Whalen recently took some time with the Big Ten's Matt Savoti to answer some questions about Minnesota's success and her overseas trip with the Big Ten All-Star Team.

You are off to a pretty fast start this season, what do you attribute your personal success to thus far?
I guess just fitting into the new system. The whole team's a lot more confident this year and we're just working the ball around a lot and getting easy shots and just playing hard at both ends of the court.

It's early in the season, but is there an aspect of your game that you're really pleased with at this point?
I would say that actually last night (in an 80-64 win over Northern Iowa), I was pleased with my three-point shooting. I made three three-point shots so I'm pleased with that, but just getting to the basket well and finding my teammates and just getting easy open shots. Right now, our field goal percentage is really high and that's just because we're getting a lot of lay-ups and a lot of easy looks at the basket.

Is that something that coach, Brenda Oldfield, has stressed to the team about trying to get easier shots?
Just with the way our offense is set up, the guard slides that we have and the penetration lanes that are open and fast-breaking always leads to lay-ups. That's just the way our system is set up.

You're off to a good start as team at 5-1, what are some the reasons why the team has been playing so well?
I just think that in all six games we've played so far, we've played hard for 40 minutes. We've just stuck together as a team and last night was really evident of that. They, Northern Iowa, came out in the first half and hit a lot of shots and they were really fired up to play us. They were up, pretty much the whole game until the end when we kind of took it over. It just shows that if you keep working hard and sticking at it, eventually your shots are going to start to fall and that's when we took control of the game.

Last season, you started off 7-3, and then had a tough stretch at the end of the season. Is that something that plays in the back of your mind and you say to yourself, 'hey we've got to take one game at a time and can't worry about looking too far ahead?
Right, every game is a big game, so we have to take every game one step at a time. But this is a new season and we know that it's going to be a lot more successful. We know we started off good last year but the feel of the team this year is so much more confident, so everybody has a good feel for the next, couple of games.

Last season, you finished second in the Big Ten in scoring and averaged the most points per game of any freshman in Minnesota history. What was it like to come in and make such an immediate impact as a true freshman?
I knew that when I signed with Minnesota, there was a chance that I could step in and play right away. And just making an impact, I didn't really expect it but I always knew I had confidence and I would be able to do those things. Just looking back at it, it wasn't that surprising. I just came out and fit into the system really well.

This past summer, you toured with the Big Ten All-Star Team overseas. How much did the experience of working with all the different player's help you to become a better player this season?
I just think seeing other people's work ethic and playing with them and seeing different things they do, just kind of learning from them because I think I was one of two sophomores on the team and just really looking up to the older players and just seeing different things on how they play. It was a great experience for me and it really helped me out.

What was it like to play against different competition from different parts of the world?
It was really interesting playing against foreign teams. To see the different styles, it's definitely more free-lance over there. It's really up-tempo, shoot the ball, and that's a really fun way to play basketball. It was really fun to play against teams over there, seeing different offenses that they do and different defenses. It was just a really good time.

What was like being over there and seeing the different cultures from around the world?
It was a great experience, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Seeing Switzerland and France and just different people watching you play was great. It's something that I felt very fortunate to be so young and to be able to experience something like that. And seeing all the different cultures was a great experience.

At Hutchinson High School (Hutchinson, Minn.), you were All-Conference in basketball as well as in tennis and track. How did the skills you picked up from those sports other than basketball help you on the basketball court?
In track, I ran the 100, so I definitely think that helped me to get a quick first step. I think in tennis you have to see the court like in basketball and envision everything. In tennis, I played some doubles and singles and that helped me to see the court. I also played hockey when I was younger and it helped me to see the floor better. Just playing all those sports helped me a lot on the basketball court.