Louisville Postgame Quotes
January 18, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On Louisville's 3-point defense)
“I thought we did a great job. That's one thing that we knew coming into the game that we would have to focus on. We really made a point of it to help off of ball-side shooters. So on dribble drives we were trying to make them finish instead of coming to help and allowing the kick. They had a few, I thought, that were open, and we were fortunate they did not go in. I thought to start the game we did a really nice job of contesting them instead of giving them some momentum from behind the 3-point line. When they start making them, it's tough to stop.”
(On Louisville's team passing)
“I thought we passed the ball extremely well. I thought we did a really nice job. I thought we were unselfish, I thought we made the extra pass. It helps when you make shots. It helps when you make layups. We didn't miss as many around the basket as we have in the past. When you're catching and finishing, you're going to get an assist. I was proud of them. I thought overall this was possibly one of the best games we've played this year, except for the free throws. Believe me, we practice them over and over and over. We do everything we can. I appreciate everyone's input on what we should do to change to help them shoot better. We do everything. It's just a matter of being able to step up and knock them down. I promise you they all want to make them. Every kid out there is in the gym making 100 free throws a day, and they all want to make them. We're just going to have to keep working and hopefully you'll start to see them dropping. We're fortunate Mariya (Moore) stepped up and made hers towards the end. That's what we needed.”
(On the play of Sara Hammond and Myisha Hines-Allen)
They finished great. The first half Sara did a great job. We knew how they were going to try defend some ball screens, so we slipped a little bit and we got her some good looks. And then they came and started to double Sara, and Sara did a really nice job of making some nice passes. Myisha finished on a few of them. It's what's going to happen. It's not very often that you're going to let somebody, as an opposing coach, unless there's only one scorer on the opposing team. Like, they aren't going to score 20 one half and then score 20 the next. They're coming out focusing, and then that's when other players have to step up. We're fortunate Myisha really did a nice job in the second half.”
(On whether it was the plan to let Virginia's Faith Randolph score the bulk of the team's points and shut down the rest of the team)
“No. I promise you that wasn't the idea. Sounds good, though. Sounds good. She's a big-time player. She made some shots that were tough. It's not like we gave her some easy ones. She was driving hard. Honestly, it reminded me of Angel (McCoughtry) when she played here. One-two pull-ups, you don't see it very often, especially when you're going full-speed and you stop on a dime and go straight up. You just don't see it in our game that often. That's why she's so effective with it. You don't know if she's going all the way to the rim or going to stop. Most players have to slow up before they go into their pull-up. That's why Angel was so good. You had no idea what she was going to do. Is she going to the rim? Is she shooting the pull-up? I was just really impressed. She made some tough shots, very tough shots.”
(On the KFC Yum! Center's atmosphere for the game)
“It was great. There's no question. I thought it was the best atmosphere. I thought everyone got into it. When they actually made a little run to get back to four in the second half, I thought the crowd got behind us. As I told the kids over and over, and I'll keep telling them, our marketing department did a great job of getting a really good crowd in here. We're going to continue to work on that, there's no doubt, for the next home games. But we have to perform. The girls have to perform. I'm not saying you're going to win every game, but you've got to go hard. You've got to lay it on the line. You've got to want people to want to come back and say 'Wow, I enjoyed that.' I thought tonight, I would think if you came for the first time, you would come back. We played hard. Did we make every shot? No, but I thought we passed the ball extremely well. But like I said, besides the free throw shooting, we shot 48 percent for the game from the field, 42 from the free throw line, we did not make a 3, but I thought we played a really, really good basketball game.”
(On scoring 52 points in the paint and if that was an emphasis for this game)
“It's what we've done the entire year. We do a great job of getting into the paint. We're not a great 3-point-shooting team. And I know that and we can accept that, but we do a really nice job of penetrating, we work so hard at getting into the middle, jump stopping, and wither elevating for a shot or dropping it off to the post, and that's where our bread and butter is going to be. We're going to have to continue to shoot and make 10 or 15-foot pull-up jump shots, and if we can do that, then the posts have to come up and help, and then we can drop it off. And then we'll continue to work on shooting, there's no doubt. We have to be able to stretch some people out and not allow them to just pack it in. So hopefully you'll see us get back to where we're knocking down some. But I didn't think we needed to shoot a bunch today. I thought we reversed the ball well, we looked inside-out, and did some great things.”
(On what the team needs to do to stay at the top of the ACC standings with a tough stretch coming up)
“We've got to score more points. We've got to score more points than the other team; that is our No. 1 goal. If we do that, we're going to be in business. We're going down to Florida State here on Thursday, and they're a top-10 team. They aren't ranked top 10, but they're a top 10 team. We're going to head in, it's going to be a battle. There's no question. If we don't go down there prepared to play and know that we're going to get their best shot, then shame on us. But as I've said, I don't see us going undefeated in this league. And I'm not trying to be a pessimist, I'm trying to be a realist. I just don't see it. There's too many great teams. So we're going to just have to keep grinding them out, and in order for us to win, that's what we're going to have to do. When you look at our roster, I know Sara (Hammond) gets 20, Myisha (Hines-Allen) gets 17, we get some people scoring, but who do you see that's just creating their own shot and saying, 'okay, I'll get you a 1-on-1,' it's not out there on our team right now. But because we pass it so well, we're unselfish and we'll screen for each other, we're able to get 21 assists. The one thing I'll say about Virginia, I'm so proud, we hold them to only six assists on 25 made field goals, but they've got some kids that can take it 1-on-1 and create their own. So you're not going to have as many assists. So when you don't have that necessarily, that's when you count on your team being unselfish, setting good ball screens, setting each other up, and we've been doing a really, really good job of that.”
(On if he thinks Louisville will support the WNBA game when Shoni Schimmel and Angel McCoughtry come to town)
Sure, I would think so. I'd be shocked if our fans don't come out to watch those two play, and it's not just those two, you're going to have a lot of great players that are playing on those teams against each other. I think it's a great opportunity for our city to get out and see WNBA basketball and not have to drive and hour to Indianapolis or five down to Atlanta. SO it would not surprise me if it's a really good crowd for those games.”
(On her play in the first and second halves)
“Just being post partners with her (Myisha Hines-Allen), we're getting chemistry together. Personally, I just want to start off strong and not get into foul trouble and get a flow going. For me to get that going, it kind of got my confidence going. In the second half, we came into halftime and I told Myisha they can't stop you; you're really strong. She has multiple moves and I told her to go at them because their post wasn't as fast as ours. So I'm just really proud of her for her effort tonight, especially in the second half, because she stepped up when we needed her and performed for us.”
(On getting the win against Virginia and continuing to improve throughout the year)
“The coaches have been preaching to us all week that we haven't been performing very well in practice or giving a good effort. He said if you don't bring it today, this is the best team we have played all season - just all around in the post and their guards. They are coming in hungry; they started off well. They felt like this is a game they needed to possibly get into the tournament. So I'm just really proud of our team effort, especially in the second half when they made a run. We have to continue to get better. We are grateful for the win, but I know coach knows that there are still things we need to work on defensively and offensively. We have to just continue to do great things on offense and defense and hopefully peak at the right time in the season.”
(On being able to get the win despite not hitting 3s and poor free throw shooting)
“Well we know our strength isn't 3s, so I don't think we came into the game with the mindset of having to make 3s. Our mindset is we are going to win through rebounding and defense. Defense gets our transition going, and we feel like our offense is pretty good and not many people can stop us. So I think that's just our whole mentality, not relying on the 3 ball, and if you are a pretty good 3-point shooter and your shots aren't falling tonight, find another way to score, or impact this team - whether it is driving to the paint, kicking the ball our or getting rebounds for us or being a defensive stopper. We don't have a great 3-point threat, but we need know how to get to the free throw line and score in other ways.”
(On whether there was added emphasis to limiting Virginia's 3-point baskets)
“Yeah, it was a big emphasis because we know that their guards are probably the best all-around guards we have seen all season, especially from the perimeter, so we know that if they got going early hitting 3-point shots, they would get really confident and feel like they were in this game. I think our guards did a tremendous job of running them off the 3-point line, but I will give their guards credit because when we got down and defended, they still came up and hit big shots. But that was a big emphasis to not let them get going early from the 3-point line.”
(On how important it is to maintain the focus and the intensity from today)
“It's a big emphasis, and the coaches, as much as we keep getting better, they continue to keep getting on us and tell us that we have to continue to get better. We can't be set on being content with being 5-0 in the ACC because the teams that we are starting to play now are in the top 25 and they are at the top of the ACC. And you know we are going on the road and it's going to be a tough environment and I know they have a lot of bigs down there and are playing really well right now. I know coach is going to sit down this week and watch a lot of film, and they are going to give us a scouting report. We have to get ready for practice and get ready for the next game.”
Myisha Hines-Allen
(On stopping the ACC's leading rebounder in Virginia's Sarah Imovbioh)
“Well, the coaches emphasized she's the leading rebounder in the ACC and also the nation, so we just had to put a body on her and we had to always find her and box her out.”
(On sensing Virginia's frustrations when it had multiple possessions and couldn't score)
“Yes, you can hear it on the court as well. You can just hear them talking about it, but we have to stay focused and not worry about what they are doing and get stops and that is what we are doing.”
(On what Louisville has to do to remain atop the ACC)
“Keep playing hard, play 40 minutes, start playing good defense, and if we focus on our defense, the offense will come because we are a transition team. So, if we get stops defensively, it will lead into transition points.”
