LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The NCAA women's basketball tournament is back to normal, as far as I'm concerned, because Louisville coach Jeff Walz is back up on the podium, in person, asking the moderator for more time to answer questions.
"I'm not in any hurry, let's go," he says.
He's trying to generate interest, here. Sell a few tickets. Let the man talk.
"I have a stutter," he said. "I should get 5 extra minutes anyway. When I call a 30-second timeout they should give me 45."
Yep, the days of the COVID isolations are over. When we last saw Walz at an NCAA Tournament press conference, it was via Zoom after his team's loss to Stanford in the Elite Eight last March, and he talked well through a fire alarm at the arena, which turned out to be an actual fire.
Walz is preaching the gospel of women's hoops, and talking about his team, and why shouldn't he? As the No. 1 seed in the Wichita Region, the Cardinals carry a No. 1 seed into the tournament for the third time in four years.
His No. 4-ranked Cardinals (25-4) will face No. 16 seed Albany at 6 p.m. Friday in the KFC Yum! Center. Nebraska will face Gonzaga in the regional's opening game at 3:30.
And though that earns them two more home games (if they win the first), Walz also wants his players to take in the tournament atmosphere, something that many have never experienced to its full effect.
"I think this is great," Walz said. "I tell them all to soak everything in. This is what you've worked so hard for all year is to get to this. I've never been one to say, 'You know, you have to roll things back, don't get too excited. No. I want to be that way. I can remember in '13 when we beat Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen and everybody is asking how are you going to roll your kids back? I'm not. Are you kidding me? You want them to be excited. You want them to continue to play that way. I want them to enjoy this. They should. And I think when you realize what's at stake, you also come out a little more focused and play a little bit harder. We have to take good shots, take care of the basketball, and then realize you are not going to win any game in the first five minutes of it. You have to be patient and just take things as they come."
It is fair to say, though, that Louisville players are more worried about the last five minutes of games than the first five. That's been a theme in practice and during drills after losing a 16-point lead late to fall to Miami in its ACC Tournament opener.
The Cards also lost a big lead in the fourth quarter in a loss to No. 2-ranked N.C. State. But players said they aren't worried about a trend.
"We have been focusing on winning every drill," Kianna Smith said. "And if we're down a drill, we relate it to the game. This is the last 30 minutes of practice. We have to finish strong. Not let up our intensity and stuff like that."
For his part, Walz says he's not concerned about what happened against Miami. He said he coached differently than he would have because he subbed too soon, hoping to save his players' legs for what he hoped would be a 3-game tournament run.
"I've said it, guys. It's my fault," Walz said. "I had bad combinations on the floor at the end of the game. I would have never had those combinations out there if we weren't possibly looking at playing three games in three days. The kids did a great job for 35 minutes, and I sucked for 5. So it's reality."
Walz is also hoping that the tournament will bring out the best in his team. One starter, Vanderbilt transfer point guard Chelsie Hall, who has played some of her best basketball late in the season, has never started an NCAA Tournament game. Another, Syracuse transfer Emily Engstler, has never played past the first weekend.
"I like the versatility that we have," Walz said. "I like the fact we have five or six kids that can score the basketball. You have to guard us pretty much at all spots. And if everybody is playing at their best, we are really hard to guard. And we are a pretty darn good defensive team, too. We can't have lapses. I'm extremely confident in this team."
Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
