Louisville Postgame Quotes
November 06, 2016 | Women's Basketball
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Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On whether he was satisfied with the team's performance)
“You know what when we get a chance to go back and look at the film, there were a lot of good things we did and a lot of things that we have to work on. We are trying to challenge this group of young women to be elite, you know let's get this program to where we are on the elite level and in order to do that you have to be able to do the little things right the entire game. It starts in practice. When you go to the side and we're shooting free throws, it can't be a joke. You can't be over there having a good time because I can't watch everybody. It's impossible to sit there and babysit every single person so you've got to hold yourself accountable so for us to go 13 for 26 from the free throw line, it's just awful. It's pitiful. It's an embarrassment and if they don't feel that way, it's not going to change. I tell people all the time, as coaches there is nothing we can do. When it comes to free throws you're not being guarded. It's called free for a reason. You're just there shooting by yourself, its repetition. You have to get in the gym and shoot 100, 100, 100 every single day and just get a routine. Its stepping up there, you don't worry about anything around you, you just do the same routine and you should get the same result. You just have to practice it. You can't just go into the gym and say oh I've got to make my 50 free throws, my 100 free throws, my 250 and just do it real quick to get it over with. You've got to go in with a purpose and that's one thing we're really going to have to harp on it and get fixed. It has to get changed or we're going to lose some ball games because we're not able to step up and make a free throw.”
(On the three players who didn't get on the court)
“Cortnee (Walton) has an elbow injury that she received in our scrimmage against Ohio State. Hopefully a week or two and she'll be back. Kylee (Shook) had been practicing, she's had a little hip issue. She could have played today if we needed her to play but there's no sense in pushing kids at this point in time when we can take an extra few days to get her healed. Arica (Carter) has just been dealing with a little groin issue for about 2 to 3 months so we're just trying to gradually bring her back. She thinks by next week she should be out there ready to go but she's not going to be able to go out there and play 25 minutes. It's going to be a progression of let's get to 8, let's get to 10 and see if we can build that up. But very fortunate right now to have Briahanna Jackson doing what she's doing for us at the point guard spot. Taylor Johnson it's her first game today. It's a big change from the excitement so I know that she'll continue to get better but I feel confident with where we are with our point guard play but it would sure be nice to have Arica back in that mix.”
(On Asia Durr returning to full strength)
“Yeah she sure is. I'm really excited for her. I still don't think 10 shots is enough for her so that's one thing she's going to have to figure out a way to get more shots up.”
(On the team's overall depth and his ability to use subs comfortably)
“Yeah there's no doubt about it. I'm really pleased with the depth that we have. We're going to be able to run some bodies at some people. The great thing about it is if one of them doesn't feel like coming and playing hard, I don't have to play them. It's okay. It's not a problem, sit over there and enjoy the ball game. That's what's helped us because competition is a great thing. Competition either brings the best out of people or it shows your true colors. We've been fortunate that it's bringing the best out of our kids and that's what we need. They're generally excited for each other. I told them today there's not one player in my 10 years that's ever gotten up off the bench and checked themselves in. So if someone's going into the game for you, it's not that they decided hey Paul sucks today, I'm taking him out. I promise you that's not how it is, I put somebody in for you so don't be upset at them, encourage them. Then get yourself over to the bench and collect yourself and then when you get your chance again, be ready to go. So it's been fun to watch because they are so supportive of each other.”
(On the performance of the freshmen)
“I thought Jaz, Ciera, and Bionca all three played extremely well. You know I was really pleased with them. Especially with Cortnee and Kylee not playing, Bionca is going to have to step up. I wasn't really sure what she would be able to do at this point and time but her athleticism is pretty impressive. Now it's a matter of her trying to fine tune some things, become a better defender on the perimeter. She's got to learn how to become a little stronger with the ball. Overall, you know, I was very pleased with all of them. I thought Ciera, offensively, did a very nice job. We have a low-post presence that we haven't had. But she's got to get more than one rebound for us. That's one thing her and I talk about after the game and she knows it and she'll come to work on Tuesday when we start back up to practice and she'll work on it. That's the one thing I love about the kid: she's coachable. She wants to be great so she's willing to put the work in to be great.
(On teaching points he can use for the season opener)
“Well, I think we will really talk to them about turnovers, especially the first half. We sat there and scored 34 in the first period and 19 in the second simply because we turned it over six times in the second period. You can't do that. In a 10-minute stretch, you can't turn the ball over six times. We will talk about that. Then out free throw shooting. You know, we go 4-9 from the free throw line in the second period. Well there's five points you leave on the board. You can't do that. I did like the way that we pushed the ball in transition. We are going to continue to try to do that. And then we have to continue to try to wear people down. I thought Lindsey Wilson did a nice job in the first half. We didn't turn them over a bunch but I think as we continued to go they got tired and we then we stated to get some turnovers off of our press.”
(On any defensive moments that stood out)
“Well, I thought Jazmine Jones did a nice job of getting in the passing lanes. Her steals are leading to layups and that's what you have to have. If you want to change the tempo of a game, you've got to get some steals to turn into layups. That's what she did for us. I thought Ciera did a nice job, and Bionca, on altering shots in the paint which is something we have not had in a while. So that's really impressive. And then I thought Briahanna Jackson and Taylor Johnson did a very nice job on ball. You know we have some on ball defenders who can really put some heat on some people and they've got to continue to do that. And then we've got to get our wings to continue to be able to also provide some defensive pressure. Mariya Moore does a really good job defensively for us, especially on the ball.”
(On whether Jessica Laemmle will have a similar role to Dakota Weatherford)
“You know she can. She can. We are just a little deeper this year than we were last year. So I'm not sure she will have as many opportunities as Dakota did. But you know the kid practices hard every day. She took advantage of the six minutes. That she had today. That's what I tell them all. 'I don't care if you get 40 seconds, you've got to make a difference. You've got to go out there and take advantage of the minutes that you're given.' And she did that for us. Now I was really impressed with her play. She had two deflections simply guarding the ball by sticking her hand out when someone made a pass. She'll get her chance. It just might not be as often as Dakota did.”
(On opening the season and the road and any challenges it presents)
“Yeah, I'm not worried about it. We do have a young team but we've got Mariya Moore that's started for two years, Myisha started for two, Briahanna Jackson is a fifth year senior. You know Taylor Johnson is a fifth year senior. We've got a lot of veterans also that should be able to handle it. You know, the way I've also thought about it is your freshman don't know any better. So who cares? All they're going to do is go out there and play. So I'm really not concerned about true road games. Now, Martin will have a very good fan base. They draw well. It should be an exciting place to play.”
Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen
(On the team's performance)
Durr: “I think that we started off strong but as the game went on there were things that we didn't do too well. So I think that we just have to keep our minds going and I think we just have to play strong throughout the whole game.”
(Things to improve on?)
Durr: “Defense. Sprinting the floor. Those are the two main things.”
(On shooting a high percentage from 3)
Durr: “Coach Walz, he tells me to 'Shoot the ball' and that's what I do. I think that my teammates found me on the court and I was able to knock down shots.”
(On feeling fully healthy)
Durr: “Yes it does. Last year, I played through a lot of pain and it just feels so good to be pain free now.”
(On how this game helps in preparation for the regular season)
Hines-Allen: “Just working on executing all of our plays and working on defense. They were a great team. It's not like they were a bad team or anything so they helped us as well. We need to work on taking care of the ball; We ended up with a lot of turnovers so we just have to make sure we are taking care of the ball. 15 turnovers so.”
(On how the freshmen played)
Hines-Allen: “They are exciting to watch. I knew they were going to be exciting to watch because it happens in practice. They compete every day in practice so I knew it was going to carry over. I just can't wait to continue to play with them.”
(On why Kylee Shook didn't play)
Hines-Allen: “Yeah, it's just a resting injury, so we are playing it safe with her, but once she gets out there she can jump, she's long, and she's able to block a lot of shots so she's able to protect the paint a lot more, and her shot, she shoots so high, that she can get a shot off on anyone.”
(On lessons learned from today)
Hines-Allen: “I know one thing we have to work on before we start the game is free throws and taking care of the ball. Those are the two main things that Coach Walz talked about after the game. So if we want to be a final four team, we have to do those little things for us to win.”
(On the team chemistry)
Hines-Allen: “I would just say last year it was basically a new team. We had no seniors on the team, Cortnee (Cortnee Walton) was the oldest one on the team, BJ (Briahanna Jackson) was just coming in, and her first year running, me, AC (Arica Carter), and Mariya (Mariya Moore) were sophomores, so it was kind of like a new thing, and we were still trying to figure out each other. This year we are a lot older; we have freshman that played last year so they know what to do as sophomores, and then you have the freshman who follow our lead too, so it's a lot easier.”
(On whether the rotations used in the game were similar to practice)
Durr: “It's actually changed. Coach Walz doesn't have a set player that he is going to play. He bases that off of who plays hard in practice, and who does great things on what he says.”
(On freshman Bionca Dunham grabbing 10 rebounds)
Hines-Allen: “Yeah, I looked up and I saw that. It's because the defenders are never worried about them, so once they see the numbers and they are able to get the ball, so they need to start worrying about that and I'll just clean it up. Just to see them out there rebounding like that is amazing. Cortnee (Walton) is out, and she is great at offensive rebounding, so just to see that if Cortnee is out, we still have other options, so it was great to see that we do still have a lot of rebounders on this team.”
(On whether any freshmen stood out)
Hines-Allen: “All of them did something different for us, so I'm just going down the line. We have Ciera (Ciera Johnson); She shot the ball 10 times, and I tell you right now in practice, she doesn't shoot the ball 10 times. We tell her to shoot the ball, and she always wants to kick it out, kick it out. No, go to work and get down in the post, so it was great to see her. She goes 7-for-10 from the field, so that was great to see. Taylor (Taylor Johnson) is not really a freshman, but she played really well at the point. Jaz (Jazmine Jones), phenomenal as you've seen from the steals. Great, fun, and energetic to play with, Bionca (Dunham) rebounding. Jess (Jessica Laemmle); I get on her a lot, but she did really well. She was calm today, she took her time, and was poised. She got her hands on a lot of the balls. Sydney (Sydney Zambrotta), we tell her to shoot, and she's our shooter, so she has to continue to shoot. It's going to drop. It didn't drop today, but it's going to drop.
Durr: “I think they all did great things. We had some people that can shoot the ball well, we have people who know how to play defense, and they know how to jump. I was very impressed. There are not too many girls out there who can jump that high so they are very talented, and I just can't wait to see what else they have left.”
