Louisville-Western Kentucky Postgame Quotes
November 25, 2014 | Women's Basketball
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Louisville Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On Bria Smith's triple-double)
“It was great. It's a unique situation there at the end of the game, where normally we were going to pull the ball out and hold it, but you're looking at being one assist away from a triple-double and only two other players in school history have done that. So I thought that it awarded an opportunity for her to try to get that on the last play there. I'm going to give Shawnta' Dyer credit because she made a tough shot. It was a great night. I thought (Bria) played with a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of passion. She was in the game from start to finish. She made a lot of layups, but she attacked the press and then she laced a pull-up jump shot in the middle of the lane, did exactly what we had been working on the past week.”
(On if he would have had Bria Smith go for the triple-double if it had been against another coach)
“To be honest with you, in a situation like that, you're one assist away from a triple-double. I would have done the same thing. It wouldn't have mattered who it was. We aren't trying to run the score up. That's not what we do. We had a group on the floor that I probably don't play a lot together, and (Western Kentucky) went on a 14-0 run. They're attacking it, pressing and trapping us. I understand. I respect that that's part of the game. But then I had to get them out and put my first group back out there, because the last thing you want is a 14-0 run to go to 20-0, and now you're at a 14 point game when you had it up at 30. And you start missing some shots all of the sudden and it becomes interesting. So we went back with them, and during that stretch I think she picked up two or three of the assists. I took her out when we were up and she was at six, and I was like, 'All right, whatever,' and then I put this group back in and she picks up two more assists and get to eight and then I'm like, 'OK, well let's see if we can't get 10.' So it was not anything trying to be disrespectful to them.
Michelle (Clark-Heard) is a dear friend of mine, their entire coaching staff - I think they do an outstanding job. I said it on my radio show. You saw the Western Kentucky team tonight, it was tired. They had gone through a four-game stretch in the Preseason NIT that was quite impressive, and if you go back and look at their stat sheets, (Alexis) Govan and (Chastity) Gooch and (Kendall) Noble are playing 38, 39 minutes a game. The only reason all three of them didn't play 40 minutes against Mississippi State was that two of them fouled out I think. And then they come here and they were just exhausted. They went to Colorado and did something that the five years I was at Nebraska we couldn't do, and then we went out there two years ago without team that went to the Final Four and couldn't win at Colorado. So I know how impressive that win was. And then to go down to Mississippi State and compete like they did and they bussed down, so their game finishes at I think 5 p.m. Eastern Time. By the time you get showered up and back, you're not on the bus again until 6:15 or 6:30; they got back Sunday night I'd say at 11:30 p.m., turned right back around, practiced on Monday, bussed up here and played us today. So what you saw tonight was just a tired Western Kentucky basketball team; there's no question in my mind.”
(On how good Bria Smith is)
“She's really good. There's no question about it. When she's able to attack the way she did under control, it makes us a better basketball team. What I thought we really did a great job of, we attacked their press to score - we didn't attack it to just try to break it. We scored a lot of easy baskets out of transition off their press, so when they would score, we were able to come right back down and attack it and score. That's something we've been trying to do here for eight years. If you're going to get pressed, you can't just pray that you get the ball across half court, you've got to go at them, because that's the only way you're going to get the tempo of the game in your favor.”
(On Sara Hammond's goal to get to the foul line)
“Yes. She was 0 for the season going into tonight's ballgame, so for four games, she had not attempted a free throw. Last year, I think she had on average attempted three a game. I had told her the hardest thing about shooting is when you're struggling form the field, you've got to find a way to get to the free throw line so you can see one go in. And she did that tonight, because if you all saw, her first six shots were about a foot out and she missed all six. But, what I was proud of her for was her body language. The past four games had been awful. She'd missed those, hang her head, jog. Tonight, she just kept playing, and finally it went in. Then, all of a sudden, she made a few in a row, we'd run an out of bounds play, she'd score a midrange jump shot, and I think she's starting to feel good.”
(On making 3s)
“It would've been nice to have gotten one tonight, but we're different than what we were the past seven years here. It is what it is. We don't have a big-time 3-point shooter. Mariya Moore can knock 3s down, but it's not one you're just looking for every single time you knock down a bunch of them because I don't want Mariya out there taking nine 3s a game. She needs to take two or three, because what she does is she puts the ball on the floor and she drives it well and she can shoot jump shots, and that's what we want her doing. Tonight, I know I get the emails and I love them because we have great, passionate fans. You know just what you said, 'You guys don't shoot the ball from the outside well?' Well that's why we don't. It's pretty simple. When you don't do something well, don't do it, so we don't. So we've been doing a good job of getting the ball reverse quick and then attacking of the dribble. So what we work on every day at practice is catch up off the 3-point line, ripping it, two dribbles, pull up, because we need to make 15 foot, 10, 12 foot jump shots. And we can do that and I think we showed that tonight. And that's what we're going to continue to do. I mean, we scored 72 of our 89 in the paint. And then you take that away were also 0 for 6, 13 for 22 from the free-throw line; it wasn't a pretty night outside of that. But you do what you do well and you stick with it. As I tell my kids, if it's not broke, don't fix it. And for us right now, were going to keep trying to pound the ball in the paint.”
(On what the team does well ball pressure wise)
“Well, Jude's out there and Jude only came up with one and Bria did a good job tonight too. They do a great job of anticipating. You throw the ball in the post, if you're a post player, you start to try to dribble to make a move. They're going after it and that's one thing we've been trying to preach is to attack the ball, attack the ball. And I was really happy for them because that's what we have to do because we don't shoot the 3 well. I told our kids from day one, when you don't shoot the 3 well, you can't turn it over and have to come up with steals. And last year, we actually got 16 and 17 turnovers a game. When you're making six or seven 3s, you can make up for that. I think we had eight at halftime (turnovers). To end the game at 13, I'm very pleased with that.”
(On Mariya Moore not scoring in first half)
“I don't think she had a bunch of open looks. I thought Western did a really good job of trying to make sure they located her and they found her, and then she picked up two quick fouls too. So it limited her playing time in the first half.”
(On Thanksgiving plans)
“We'll practice tomorrow, we'll practice Thanksgiving morning. Then we're taking the entire team out to the golf club. They've got a very nice buffet out there. We're going to eat as a team and then we'll do some team activities and then we'll get prepared to play on Friday because it's Friday and Sunday and then Thursday back here too.”
(On Megan Deines and Emmonnie Henderson)
“They did a really good job. Emmonnie's doing a much better job of being aggressive in the paint, scoring in the paint, trying to be strong with the basketball and that's what she has to continue to do. I really thought going into the game that she could really be a special offensive player tonight because of her strength, because they don't have 6-foot-4, 6-foot5. They're 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2, that are around her too, so Emmonnie's pretty strong, she's a pretty impressive young woman out there. When she gets that ball in the block, she's hard to stop.”
Bria Smith, Sr., G.
(On coming out of the game with 12 minutes left)
"Honestly, I just trust everything that my coach does. It wasn't an issue to me. I'm happy that (head coach Jeff Walz) put me back in, of course, but I didn't really care at the moment.”
(On hearing from teammates that she was nearing a triple-double)
"Yeah, when (Walz) subbed me out, everyone was so excited. I was like, 'Why is everyone so excited? We're winning? OK.' And then they said, 'You're four [assists] away from a triple-double.' I was like, 'What?! Oh, OK.' So when I got back in, I was trying to pass it more, but I ended up with more turnovers, but I'm happy I got it.”
(On the feeling of getting a triple-double)
"I guess it will settle in tomorrow (laughs). We just went out there playing our normal game, and it just so happened that it happened. I'm happy for us.”
(On trying to get an assist in the last three minutes of the game in order to grab the triple-double)
"It was funny to me because I kept dribbling around looking for everybody. Emmonnie (Henderson) made this incredible [shot]. I don't know how she made it, but I'm happy she did. She made that ... and I kept trying to get someone, but it wasn't happening and then Shawnta' (Dyer) of course, she had my back with the last one with a few seconds left. I give all my credit to my team."
(On advice from Walz to get her final assists)
"He just said, 'Attack the middle because that's been working all game.' He just said to do that and it seemed to work. He knows what he's doing."
Sara Hammond, Sr., F.
(On the ease of scoring inside the paint against Western Kentucky)
"Well, we just knew they were kind of tired. We could tell on their faces. They've been playing in that preseason WNIT and [Walz] said they played like four games in the last seven days. He wanted us, when he was subbing in and out, to run the floor. Transition. That's where we're going to get our points, is in transition. (Chastity) Gooch plays pretty much the whole game and I just kept telling our posts when we subbed in and out, 'She's getting tired guys. We've got to go at her.' She's a phenomenal player. To play as many minutes as she does and the amount of games that they've played, I give her credit. She had a double-double, but we just had the strength with as many posts, how deep we are in the post. Our guards were getting by their guards, getting to the paint, jump-stopping, passing for assists. I think we just kind of all gelled together tonight and gave it our best."
(On getting a double-double while still scoring at the free throw line)
"Yeah, especially yesterday, that's what the coaches were harping on me about. I hadn't been to the free throw line yet in the past four games and so that was kind of one of my goals tonight - get to the free throw line. My shots weren't falling the past couple of games and [Walz] was like, 'That should be your goal. Get to the free throw line and make a basket in the paint, because once that happens, then you just feel like the basket is the ocean because you have that relief of pressure like, 'I finally made a basket.' I'm just glad that I got that opportunity tonight and I got that weight off my shoulders and now I can just go play basketball."
(On Bria Smith's performance tonight)
"I think she played great. She just went out there. She didn't try to force things. She didn't do too much. She just knew her strengths and she played to them. I think we saw where their guards and their whole team was getting tired and I think we just knew we had more energy than they did. Of course, Bria's got the fastest first step to the basket, I think, than anyone in the nation. She's just a phenomenal athlete. She's done a great job of finding us when we're open. I'm just really proud of her and I'm happy for her because she deserves it. She's worked hard this past summer and she's one of my roommates, so that's another big thing. Yeah, I'm just proud of her effort tonight and us ultimately winning the game."
Western Kentucky Head Coach Michelle Clark-Heard
(On whether the team was tired after playing four games in eight days)
“We're not going to use that as an excuse. I'm proud of our girls. We just came out very, very flat. They (Louisville) hit everything and we weren't getting back in transition on some things, but at the end of the day, I'm super proud of our girls because I think they were up 34 at one point and we came back and we fought and competed. That's what I told them in the huddle and in the locker room , because that's who we are. Jeff (Walz) has got an unbelievable ball club and they were clicking on all cylinders. We're going to learn from this and we're going to get better so we can be the best that we can be.”
(On whether this is the best she has seen Bria Smith play)
“Yes, Bria's really good, but she's very, very dominant now on the pull-up jumper. She has another bounce in her step. I'm happy for her and those kids. They had a really good game and the girls played well.”
(On what the team learned from the game)
“We have learned through the first five games to never give up and to just fight. We have had to do it, every game that we've played. This was by far the hardest, trying to play catch up or playing catch up. I am really proud of our girls because they learned if they continue to keep competing and doing the things we need to, we can chip away at some things and continue to get better.”
(On whether she saw resiliency at the end of the game)
“Yes I did, but you can't let them score 72 points in the paint. So we have to go back, as a coaching staff, and make some adjustments. We are a change-up type defense and we do a lot of things. At the end of the day, we have to go back and make sure that we are cleaning up some things so that we can get better. We got into the Preseason WNIT, and we were very fortunate to get to the championship game and play the way we have. The nonconference season is about getting better and that is our whole goal, we are going to continue to get better. We have to get ready for conference.”
