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Chat Reel: Nicole Kaczmarski
UCLA freshman fights homesickness with basketball
Posted: Tuesday February 22, 2000 06:45 PM
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Nicole Kaczmarski has only begun to make her mark on women's basketball. UCLA |
UCLA freshman guard Nicole Kaczmarski recently chatted with CNNSI.com users. A transcript of her comments follows:
CNNSI Host: Hello everyone. Welcome to today's chat with UCLA women's basketball guard Nicole Kaczmarski. Hi Nicole. Thanks for joining us.
Nicole Kaczmarski : Thank you for having me!
From Guest: How much harder is college basketball than high school basketball? And is the difference hard to adapt to?
Nicole Kaczmarski : I would say the biggest adjustment I had to make was being far away from home. Coming from East to West Coast was a big adjustment because I miss my family. Basketball wise, the players you play against are faster, stronger, and everyone's playing hard. You really have to raise your level completely.
From Guest: Coming from New York, why go all the way to UCLA? Do you get homesick?
Nicole Kaczmarski : Yeah, in the beginning it was real difficult. I called home a lot. Once basketball started going and I got into the mix, it got better. I don't think about going home too much, but I do think about it. I'm really good about keeping in contact with my friends and family, so that helps a lot.
From Guest: Though you downed Arizona twice this year, are you afraid to meet them in the tournament?
Nicole Kaczmarski : I think that Arizona is a tough team to beat. They're well coached, they play hard, and they're a really tough team. I wouldn't say we're afraid to play them because we are ready to play anybody. But all credit goes to Arizona. They're a really good team.
From Guest: Lifetime showed some clips from a documentary about you. When and how can we see the entire film?
Nicole Kaczmarski : I'm not too sure what's going to happen with that documentary. Unfortunately, I don't know a lot about it.
From Katie: Do you think Coach Olivier is the kind of coach that will help you be a better player and push you to the top of your game? Or is she one that lets you do whatever you want?
Nicole Kaczmarski :
From Kelli: What's it been like rooming with Greco since you are both competing for playing time/a starting spot? Also, has playing with Erica Gomez helped your development?
Nicole Kaczmarski : Rooming with Greco was an easy choice for me. A couple of years back we played at Nike together and had a friendship. As far as competing for a starting spot, I'm not sure it's really like that. Some people say not to room with people from your team, but it's worked out well for us. We hardly ever fight. She's one of my best friends out here. As far as Erica Gomez, the time she wasn't here was probably the hardest time for me. When she came back, it helped me a lot because I didn't have to worry so much about leading a team. She shows me things and can tell me things that sometimes I don't see yet. She has a ton of experience with the game, and she's helped me a lot.
From Dan: Your talent is obvious to anyone who has seen you play. What would you say is the strongest aspect of your game? Conversely, which aspect do you feel you need to work on most to take your game to the professional level?
Nicole Kaczmarski : The best aspect of my game would probably be my jump shot. At least it was in high school. I'm just trying to improve on everything now. To play professional, I'm not even close yet. It's a ton of hard work. I'm doing individual work with Kathy two or three times a week. I'm working on everything I need to work on to become a better player.
From Guest: Do you think the East Coast swing vs. UConn and Rutgers hurt or helped the team
Nicole Kaczmarski : I think that playing two teams of that caliber can only help us. It was a great learning experience for us. As much as it was hard to get beat by that much so close to home. You have to come away with learning something, even when you lose. Otherwise, what's the point of playing in the game. The advantage of having such a tough schedule is that we get to see teams that we'll see again in the postseason, which is better than not having seen them at all.
From Dion: As you have settled into your role on the team, has being the only freshman starter inhibited some of the things you have tried to do on the floor?
Nicole Kaczmarski : I think subconsciously, yes. When I played for the varsity team in the eighth grade, it was almost the same thing. I'll hesitate a little more. I'm a little less aggressive with a team full of seniors. The great thing is that no one tells me what I can't do. Next year, I'll probably be more aggressive. Being a freshman, though, I'm still learning. But I don't have to do too much, because I'm on a team of great players.
From Dan: As much as I hope you love UCLA (I'm a season ticket holder and alum), do you ever wish you'd gone to a different college where you'd get more playing time and be a bigger focus of the offense?
Nicole Kaczmarski : No, I don't. I think when you first come to school, you think about other places, but it hasn't crossed my mind that I've made a mistake. One of my goals is to win a national championship. If you're going to pick a school just because you'll be the main focus, you need to choose a school that has the best team. I came here because I think we have the best chance to win a national championship.
From guest: Coming from N.Y. to L.A., how did the Internet play a role in your decision/recruiting process? Did you visit web sites, email, online services etc?
Nicole Kaczmarski : For me, the Internet wasn't a huge thing in the recruiting process. I did a lot more talking on the phone and working with people close to me to decide on whether I would choose that school or not. I did a little bit, though. If I was messing around, I would look up schools. I use the Internet more now that I'm at school to keep in touch with friends and such, but not beforehand.
From Kelli: Although the team still has a long way to go THIS season, what do you think will happen with the team next year considering you and Michelle Greco will be the only returnees who have played significant minutes?
Nicole Kaczmarski : I'm not too sure what will happen next year, and I'm not really thinking about it. I'm focusing on our goals for this year. Focusing on next year wouldn't be fair to the seniors. For next year, though, I have faith and confidence in the coaching staff to get us ready for it.
From Guest: Do you think your schedule was too difficult considering that your record does not show the difficulty of the teams you're playing?
Nicole Kaczmarski : I definitely think we're probably better than what our record shows. We had all our tough games at the beginning -- Rutgers, La. Tech. Our coaches made that schedule so we'd see the tough teams and know what we have to do to get better by the end of the season. We could have won those games we lost, but we didn't, and we come away having to focus on what we need to do to become a better team and that's what's important.
From Guest: Coach Olivier seems to do very well with halftime changes. What did she say Saturday when you were tied with Arizona?
Nicole Kaczmarski : We went into halftime tied, and a big focus of ours was to come out intense in the second half. We've been too complacent lately, and we needed to get our intensity up. We did that, and it had a lot to do with our coming away with a win.
From Greg: How crucial was AAU ball to your development as a basketball player?
Nicole Kaczmarski : If I could say one thing to upcoming players and young players that want to become great players and get the exposure to go to a major school -- It would be to get into a good AAU program. I started early and played up until I was 17. Go to camps, do anything to play. People in the past would just play high school basketball, but that's not enough. You go to those national tournaments, and you get exposure. The best time to get better is in the offseason. The more you play, the better you'll be. Plus you get that great exposure to the college coaches.
From Guest: As you look back over your first year, what are you proud of and what goals do you still have as a player.
Nicole Kaczmarski : From first year, one of the hardest things for me was being away from my family. I'm most proud of making it on my own here. I want next season for them to say, "Wow, that's Nicole Kaczmarski, she's really done a lot to improve her dribbling or her shooting percentage." I want people to see that I'm improving, because I'm doing everything I can to become a better player.
CNNSI Host: Thanks for joining us today, Nicole. Good luck the rest of the season and your career at UCLA.
Nicole Kaczmarski : Thank you. And I appreciate all the questions. Thanks for having me.
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