Shay Doron Q&A

Shay Doron is back in New York City. The Israeli-born guard starred at Christ the King High School, where she was the first girls basketball player from New York to be named a McDonald's All-American. She spent the next four years playing at the University of Maryland, where she helped lead the Terps to the 2006 National Championship. On April 4, the Liberty selected Doron with the 16th overall pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft. WNBA.com's Brian Martin spoke with Doron during the second week of Liberty training camp to discuss her return to New York and her progress at training camp.

Q. How are things going at training camp?
Doron: Things are going really well, picking up on a lot of new things, learning a lot of stuff, so I’m just trying to be really patient and the coaches have done a great job of doing that with me.

Q. What kind of stuff have you had to learn and pick up on?
Doron: The thing is I’ve been doing something for four years and now all of a sudden it’s different. Even if it’s something simple like running a wider lane, I’m just so programmed to do something else, that I just don’t do it. It’s just training your body to do some new things. The coaches have been really patient and we’ve been watching a lot of film just learning a lot from things that I’m not supposed to be doing, that I did in the past that I should have been doing.

Q. What position do they have you playing – the one or the two or a little bit of both?
Doron: Starting out a little bit of both, now I’m leaning towards the one more. I think honestly they just don’t want to confuse me too much at this point.

Q. Let’s go back to the draft, what was the atmosphere like at the draft?
Doron: Everybody was pretty nervous where I was. We were just stuck in this one room for about three hours. There was nothing to do but to think about “Am I going to get drafted?” “Who is going to draft me?” All of those things. So it was nerve-wracking for me and my family. But once your name gets called, it’s a huge sigh of relief. For me, I was relieved but also so happy to be in New York. To get to come back and be with my family and obviously play for the team I’ve been rooting for years before this.

Q. Has to be nice to come back home and not have to get to know a new city?
Doron: It’s very convenient for me. I fell into a great situation.

Q. Other than getting used to the new system, have there been any interesting stories in training camp so far?
Doron: Honestly, I’m really luck to have some great teammates that have really helped show me the way. Whether I need help going to the supermarket or finding a mall or whatever, all the veterans have been really helpful. It’s great; you can laugh with all of them. I’m having a great time with all of my teammates. So it’s not something that sticks out, but I’m just having a great time getting to know new people and luckily I’m getting to know some nice people.

Q. The core of this team is very young. What is it like playing with such a young team?
Doron: We’re young in the league, but we’ve all been playing basketball for so long. I think it can be to our advantage; our youth, the energy that we play with; I don’t think anyone can match that. We’re getting better every single day and we’re very hungry and I think that’s a really big advantage that we have over a lot of teams.

Q. What will you take from your experience at Maryland that will help you with the Liberty?
Doron: I’ll take a lot. The game experience; playing in the ACC; playing in humongous games on the biggest stages there are in women’s basketball. Just that feeling; knowing that I’ve been there and knowing that I’ve done that and not putting any excess pressure on myself. I think all of that will help me with being poised playing here and getting through the ups and downs of the rookie year. All of these things Maryland has prepared me for because it’s a long college season and you go through a lot. And I’ve learned a lot in my four years at Maryland and I’m going to use all of that on the court, off the court and use it to my advantage.

Q. Do you think you’ll be nervous the first time you play at the Garden?
Doron: I don’t know if I’d call it nervous. I’d probably be really anxious and excited. I think those would be better words to use. When I think about it, it’s basketball and I’ve been playing it for a long time and I know it, I know what to do, I know when it comes down to it just follow my instincts. I’m not going to think too much about being nervous.

Q. What adjustments will you have to make to your game to make the transition to the WNBA?
Doron: I think the biggest difference right now for me is the speed of the game. The 24 second clock, the eight-second backcourt, I think that’s the biggest difference for me right now is just getting used to playing at that fast pace and its one that I really like to play, so I’m going to have to get used to it, but I like it. I think I’m at my best when I’m in the open court, making decisions with the ball and playing a fast paced game. I’m looking forward to it.

Q. Will you playing a run and gun style this year?
Doron: We always want to push the ball and get easy layups if you can. We’re a young team so we’re going to live off of scrappy plays; we’re going to live off of easy buckets and camaraderie. All these things that other teams don’t have to rely on because they’ve been there, done that. We have to do all the little things and have them help create big wins for us.

Q. You said you like to bring the ball up, push it up and make decisions. What other strengths will you bring to the team this year?
Doron: I think I’m another shooter on a team, which you can never have enough of, especially with the good defenses. I can pass the ball just as well as I can shoot it. We’ve got some great post players and some great other shooters that I can distribute the ball to really well. I can drive, collapse the defense and get some open shots for my teammates. On the defensive end, over the last year I really improved my on the ball defense and that’s my main focus. When my offense isn’t working, I want to bring my defense; I want that to always be something that people are like, “Man, she shut her down.” That’s definitely something that is in the back of my mind at all times.

Q. Is there anything else that you are trying to improve during training camp and preseason?
Doron: Just trying to get a lot of shots up. For me the best way to learn is to just play, to scrimmage as much as possible, to play with your teammates, to understand your personnel, who does what best, put them in a position where they can be at their best and that’s what I’m learning right now. The bottom line is its basketball. You just have to learn your personnel, you have to get to know your teammates, get to know the plays, get to know the system, and its smooth sailing from there.

Q. Have you set any specific goals for this season that you want to accomplish?
Doron: Good question, I haven’t yet. I want to when things kind of die down. My first goal is obviously making the team. We’re still in training camp so I’m working on that. That’s the only thing I’m worried about right now is making this team. Once we get there we’ll think about the future.

Q. Is that part of your personality? Are you a goal driven person? Is that something you do at the beginning of each season?
Doron: I don’t really sit down and do it, but this is a pretty major leap. My goal, my dream was to play in the WNBA. I’ve always had that, that’s never changed. That’s always been in my mind and always been driving me since I had that dream. As for little goals, I never set those like “I want to be MVP”, blah, blah, blah. I just want to be a team player and help my team. That’s really all I care about.

Q. Have you thought about playing overseas as well?
Doron: I try not to think about that too much right now. There’s a lot on my plate as it is. I’ve got a great agent, who I’m sure going to put me in the best position overseas. He’s taking care of all of that, I’m not even thinking about that yet.

Q. Is there anyone specifically on the team that you’re looking forward to playing with?
Doron: Janel McCarville, I’m kind of happy to be playing with her. I’ve heard a lot of great things and I’ve seen her play over her college career. I think she’s an unbelievable player, an unbelievable passer and a great teammate. I’ve gotten to know Ashley Battle really well. She’s just one of those all out hustle players. I really enjoy playing with her. Going in everyday knowing that she’s going to work hard and push this team and try to make us all better. I’ve gotten to know that about her in the last couple weeks that we’ve been practicing. It’s very easy to know what she brings as a person and as a player to this team.

Q. Is there anyone specific that you’re looking forward to playing against? Any games you have circled on the calendar?
Doron: I’m going to be excited. They’re all going to be new; they’re all going to be different for me. I’m just ready to play. I don’t care who it is. All that hype, all the what ifs, what ands, once that ball jumps up, I don’t care who you are, I don’t care where you’re from, I want to win.

Q. Is there anything Liberty fans should know about you that they don’t already?
Doron: I don’t know. I’m sure there’s a lot. Hopefully I’ll be around long enough for them to find out all there is to know about me.