Louisville Women's Basketball Postgame Quotes
February 12, 2017 | Women's Basketball
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Head Coach Jeff Walz
(On the defensive effort)
“I was really pleased. It's something we had talked about going into this ball game, especially with Boston College coming off such a good offensive outing at North Carolina. To put 80 on the board against them, and that's a Carolina team that the game before just beat NC State at home by 14. We knew that they had the ability to score, but we also knew we had to do a good job making sure we located the 3-point shooters. I thought we did a really good job of that. The other thing was we knew the post, she's a heck of a ball player, so we had to double at times and try to make it as difficult for her as we could. I thought we did a really good job of that.”
(On Asia Durr not playing)
“She didn't play today. She was serving a one game suspension for violation of a team rule. Nothing more, nothing less. She'll be back. We're off tomorrow for our day off. She'll be back at practice, and she'll be back starting on Sunday, a week from today.”
(Any special instructions for the team given both guards are out?)
“No. It's your opportunity to step up. That's really what comes about. That's one thing we try to stress to all of them. You've got to make sure you're ready to go when your time is called, because if you're not, then when the kids come back, you can't expect to get opportunities again. I thought at times a few of them did some really good things, but we're just not mentally as sharp as we need to be right now, especially our young ones, because they just don't know. It's like when you get that chance you've got to go out there and say 'hey, I'm taking your minutes.' I'm not sure that's the mindset and the approach they have because that's what you want to do.”
(How did Kylee Shook take that opportunity?)
“She's been doing a nice job. The one thing about her that I'm trying to get her to do is be a little bit more aggressive. She's got to be more aggressive at the defensive end of the floor for us. Offensively, she can score. That's the one thing she can do. She shoots the ball extremely well. For us, right now, if we can add one more scorer to that mix, I think, it really makes us a much deeper team and a harder team to defend.”
(On why Mariya Moore didn't play in the second half)
“She said her feet were hurting, so I said fine, I understand. We'll let you rest.”
(Impact of production from freshmen post players)
“Well we're going to need that. We're going to need them to be able to produce for us and it's not just scoring the basketball. That's the thing that I keep trying to tell them all. We need someone who is going to rebound and who is going to defend for us and I thought tonight that they did a pretty good job. Sam Fuehring played great at Virginia Tech and was a huge lift for us and it's not that she played bad tonight. She played 14 minutes and had six points, 4 of 4 at the line, but had three turnovers. It's one of those things that we'll show her on film to just, 'Hey, slow yourself down at times.' She gets a turnover when I put her in and it's an out-of-bounds play and she gets a charging call. I've never seen someone turn the ball over before you even play a second because no time went off the clock. I mean it's pretty impressive. She got a turnover and actually did not play a minute, didn't physically play a second because the ball was never thrown in-bounds. Clock never started, which was a first I think that I've had in my coaching career.”
(Focus in practice over the next couple weeks)
“Well, to be sharp. We have to improve our execution at the offensive end of the floor. We have got to make sure that we are taking care of the basketball. We had a three-on-one opportunity fastbreak there late in the game, where Brianna Jones threw it up to Ciera (Johnson), but the one defender never guarded Brianna Jones. So, when she throws it up, [the defender] just turns around and now she's guarding Ciera and Ciera has to try and make some reverse layup. It should have just been a dump for a layup or a layup for Jonesy, but that is where we'll continue to work in practice and we'll show them that on film. Then, we'll just continue to drill and drill and drill, so when they get that opportunity in the game, they've seen it and they know exactly what to do.”
(What's the prognosis for Briahanna Jackson?)
“It's day-to-day right now. She said she was feeling better. The MRI that came back last Thursday was good. It did not show a stress fracture in the back or anything like that, which we were concerned about. So now it's just time. That's the one thing about a back injury. I mean you can sprain your ankle and try to fight through it, but when it's your back, it just throws everything out. We're not going to rush anything back. If she's able to go against Carolina on Sunday, great. If not, we'll just wait hopefully for that Virginia game on Thursday. But our number one goal is to make sure she gets back healthy and can give 100 percent for postseason.”
(Coach, with only three games left, what's the mindset right now?)
“Well we need to make sure we are dialed in and we're executing at the end. We've just got to clean it up. We're not far. I've said it all along, we're 22-6. You know our South Carolina game and our Notre Dame game, they beat us. But the other four, we had a chance to win all four and unfortunately did not pull it out in the end. That's all about execution. We're up four at Florida State with four and a half to go and couldn't come up with a defensive board. You know we get beat on a D board that turns into two points. You know Maryland, we take a two-point lead and don't sprint back on defense. We're right there. NC State, we're up three in overtime and we don't hedge on a ball screen like we're supposed to and we give a shooter a wide-open shot. So we are right there but we have to clean things up on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor.”
Myisha Hines-Allen and Kylee Shook
(Double-double for Myisha, was shutting down Hughes the key?)
M: “Trying to shut her down and 34 (Mariella Fasoula), their post player. They are great players in this league, so we just tried to do our best to know where they were at all times.”
(Kylee 14 points with the start. Interesting offensive set with 3 forwards and 2 guards)
K: “Myisha (Myisha Hines-Allen) plays the three well. It was not much of a change, and it was just like we keep playing.”
(Kylee what has it been like getting the opportunity to start?)
K: “You really have to zone in, not like you did not before, but with Myisha (Hines-Allen) being hurt, it was kind of nerve racking, because she is a great player, and does a lot in a game, so I felt that I had to step up and help the team because of how much she does. I had to be more aggressive and focus on what she does. She rebounds well, so I had to go rebound because that is how she is successful. I just tried to change my game and be like her in order to help the team.”
(Surprised to still be starting when she came back?)
K: “A little bit. I thought it was going to be different, but I just go out hard, and if he puts me in I am grateful, and if not I just keep working on it.”
(Myisha, what makes Kylee so effective?)
M: “It is hard to play against her. For one, when we practice, her shot release … she shoots from up here (motions with hand). No one is blocking her shot, and she can knock down shots, so it is hard to play her. She is a great shooter and can rebound the ball really well.”
(Coach have any special instructions with Asia Durr being out?)
M: “No, just play hard. Score and play hard. If we play hard, it does not matter who is out on the court, nine times out of 10, we are going to do pretty well.”
(50-25 edge rebounds, was that discussed in the locker room?)
M: “Yeah, we always try to outrebound our opponents, so it is nothing new. We try to take pride in that.”
(Only a few weeks left, what has to happen between now and the tournament?)
M: “Execution. We need to execute a lot better. It is getting toward the end, so we need to learn how to execute a lot better and continue to play hard.”
K: “Like she said, execute. Every possession matters, so we really need to focus on that. They say five minutes, so I think we need to split the game into five minutes and play hard for five minutes.”
(With Asia Durr and Briahanna Jackson out and Mariya Moore out in the second half, what are you seeing from other players stepping up?)
M: “I see it every day in practice. They go hard in practice, and everyone goes hard in practice. It was nothing new for the people that have seen us all practice. I know Kylee (Shook) can shoot 3-pointers, so when she knocked them down, it was no surprise. Bionca (Dunham) getting offensive rebounds and going up strong is no surprise because she does that in practice and Ciera (Johnson) being a post presence. I was not really surprised by what they were doing.”
(Talk about finishing the season strong?)
M: “I think we just have to go hard, and execute every game. We only have three left, and for the seniors, we have to go out with a bang. Every game from here on out matters, especially for the rankings and where we are.”
(Does being a 4 or 5 seed in the tournament make a difference?)
M: “We want home-court advantage, so we have to continue to win. We cannot have any more bad losses and just keep pushing because we are trying to play at home.”
(Without a mid-week game, what are you looking to accomplish?)
M: “Just to get better. Like I said before, executing, going over plays, going hard, and our defensive assignments too. I think executing and defense, just working on that a lot more.”
K: “Make this count.”
