Q and A: Kim Mulkey on LSU knocking out Michigan

LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey answered questions from the media after the Tigers beat Michigan, 66-42, on Sunday. The Tigers advance to the Sweet 16, where they’ll face 2-seed Utah.

Q. Kim, two questions. Was considering the moment and considering the competition, was that as locked in defensively as you have seen this year’s team? And how big was Jasmine coming off the bench with those 3’s at the start of the second quarter?

COACH MULKEY: We were definitely locked in. I don’t know if I would categorize it as “the best”. It was good. It was darn good. Because we really didn’t shoot it good. Until we got until about the third — actually it was the fourth quarter we started relaxing and hitting some of those 3’s. Jasmine handled herself like a trooper. She knew exactly why Kateri started, and it had nothing to do with anything but size. We knew they were bigger on the perimeter. And I wanted size in there. I don’t hesitate to put her in. They played a lot of zone, and I told her to go in there and you get an open look, fire it. And she came out on fire. It was so big. It was so big.

I don’t know if it was Scott or who, you got to have production from everybody, right? I think we got production from everybody. I thought Flau’jae missed shots, but she kept battling on the boards. 4 at half, ended up with 6. She hit a couple 3’s there late. How about LaDazhia? I thought Sa’Myah did fine when she was in there. Where’s the guy that asked me about throwing waves? They didn’t come at us in waves, did they? They played about 6 players and we played about 6 players because it’s the end of the season. It’s survive and advance. We were locked-in defensively.

Q. Coach, throughout the year you said we’ve won a lot of games, we’ve won a lot of games, but we haven’t accomplished anything else. Is that the first Sweet Sixteen in nine years for the school and taking that next step, is that really accomplishing something?

COACH MULKEY: It’s not a championship, but it is definitely an accomplishment. We have won one more game than we won last year. And you better believe that that’s big for us in rebuilding this program. I thought the students were back tonight. They are done with spring break. I thought they were just awesome. I thought the crowd was electric. Yeah. That’s a big deal for this program at this time. I’ve got coaches in there with tears in their eyes that have never won and been to a Sweet Sixteen. I have coaches in there that have been to multiple final fours and championships. You don’t ever take things for granted. And you let them enjoy it. You let them soak it all in. Got kids in that locker room that have never been to a Sweet Sixteen. And I’m wet. I’m soaking wet. So if I get pneumonia, y’all fill in for me.

Q. Coach, Michigan went on that 5-0 run to start the second half. You called a timeout. How do you feel like your team responded after that?

COACH MULKEY: That was a nice timeout. I was mild and gentle and just needed to — no. It’s teaching. That happened to us in the SEC Tournament against Tennessee. We had a 17-point lead and we’re trying to grow and we’re trying to teach them. How did they just score 5 points? Foul line, stop the clock, 3-pointer, 2-feet off. So you’re just stopping and you’re teaching them. That’s what we did. Stop them and challenged them and teach them and make them remember, remember.

Q. Just your thoughts on the job that Kateri did tonight.

COACH MULKEY: You know, Kateri was at Ohio State, Angel was at Maryland. Those guys are familiar with that league. I thought Kateri did great defensively. I thought every time Brown tried to do something, Kateri was right there trying to tie her up. Just physical with her. I thought when screens were set, “Kateri. If you can’t get over it, get under it.” She was big time. The big 3 she hit, that was big. That was confident. Kateri will pass the ball before she shoots it a lot of times. She can shoot it, shoot it. Let it fly. She was good. She was good defensively. Here comes my guy. They didn’t throw waves at us.

[ Laughter ]

Q. Same question I asked the players. What can you say about Flau’jae and her performance as a true freshman in this kind of game?

COACH MULKEY: Flau’jae gets down on herself when she misses shots. And I stay on her about — if that guy in the paint is open, she’s going to make a hero out of you, get her the ball when you’re messing up. And then loosen up and she will get the ball back to you when things are good. Sometimes she doesn’t know how to take me. So I just told her when she came off that floor, “You’re going to be one heck of a player by the time your career is over. Look how much you have improved thus far.” She’s better. She’s better at understanding all phases of the game. She got us big rebounds when she missed shots.

She didn’t stop shooting the ball. She got us more paint touches than she probably did 3, 4 months ago. I pulled her to the side one time — we were running and she tried it from foul line to foul line on that left wing and Alexis has the ball here and here’s a post here, if she would have been in a dead sprint and cut to the basket, Alexis would have gave her a lay-up. That’s what you’re continuing to teach freshman.

Q. Was it a relief to see Jasmine hit those 3’s and then, you know, other players start stepping up and making 3’s?

COACH MULKEY: Yes. The relief was the timing of hitting the 3’s. We had taken some, Alexis was, you know, she was kind of hesitant after she missed a few. And Flau’jae was not happy about herself for missing a few. If they were going to stay in this zone, let me give Jasmine a look. And she came out just smoking. And she wanted to go back in. I’m ready, coach. I’m ready. I know you are, Jas, I know you are. But the flow of the game dictates when you go in the game. Man, she’s our hero. She came in and did her job.

Q. Coach, I just talked to Jas and asked her, where did that confidence come from? And she said the belief you gave in her. Did you say anything or do anything or just her ability to see what was on the floor and coming off the bench?

COACH MULKEY: I think Jas is a type of person that I probably don’t give her enough hugs. She needs more hugs. Each kid is different. Some need a kick in the rear. Some need hugs. Jasmine wants to please me. In all that she does, she wants to please me. And I feel that from her. I can sense it in her. And she needs to understand I never stop believing in you. When I make decisions on not starting or taking you in or out of a ball game, it has nothing to do with how much I love you. It is strictly a basketball decision. And I think she’s grown and sees that and sees her value. Sees her value.

Jasmine I think will tell you if she doesn’t say this, you need to ask her, this is the best year of her college year. It’s the most productive year of her college career. Started at Georgia Tech, went to west Virginia, you just ask her. And those are things I reiterate to her. Doesn’t matter how many you miss, think about your entire year. This is probably the best year she has ever had in basketball.

Q. Kim, I know there’s a lot of really good things happening on campus right now athletically. Baseball is number one, football team had the season that it had. When you think about Angel Reese, how do you qualify her importance on Louisiana State University’s campus, to the women’s basketball program here, to the athletic department? How do you qualify her significance?

COACH MULKEY: Well, I’m answering it from a partial viewpoint. I see her every day. I don’t have one clue what goes on on social media unless somebody brings it to my attention. I just know that she has to be mentioned — today in a short period of time, she’s only been here, and she has an opportunity to stay here for two more years. She has made an impact on our program, women’s basketball, and I would think just like the brand LSU — every sport has one particular player or two particular — depending on the sport. That everybody knows about.

And I think Angel, she has lived up to her hype on this floor. She still hasn’t won a championship. She craves that. She wants that. But she has helped us jump start and wake up this program and wake up this community, and bring young kids to ball games and older people who are just like, “Thank you, Coach. We’ve just been kind of fading away, wanting something exciting to happen.” And she’s done that. Flau’jae has done that. Alexis Morris has done that. And they have taken advantage of NIL, guys. I was in shock the other day when I saw some of those numbers. I was like, “Oh! You’re kidding me.” But it’s here to stay.

Q. Kim, how much do you think your team grew up maybe a little tonight and unlocked the next best version of themselves?

COACH MULKEY: I think we grew up a lot. I think we grew up in two areas: And that’s rebounding and defense. I’m going to say it again: When I sat here and told you getting ready to play Michigan, do you remember what I told you? I thought their seed was too low and I told you how tough they were. I thought we were tough tonight. We were tough at all positions. And it started on the defensive end, and it started on the boards.

I just thought we were tough. And if you follow the Big 10 a lot, they are tough. All those teams are just tough-minded people. And coaches and players — and I just thought we accepted the challenge of not just maybe being quicker, but just being tough. Tough on the defensive end, and I thought we were.

Q. Angel Reese never fails to impress week after week. How big is not just hers but LaDazhia Williams’ composure in these postseason games and leaning on that as you move on?

COACH MULKEY: LaDazhia Williams is that senior that doesn’t want her season to end. She wanted to get to a Sweet Sixteen. She’s just so calm. You know, you never see LaDazhia get rattled. I never see her lose her composure. She just battled in there. She is not one — and I talk to her and Sa’Myah both about this. Sa’Myah is a freshman. But Day is an older senior. “Y’all need to quit getting pushed around there. You need to get position.

If you are not going to win a battle because someone is bigger and thicker and stronger, you can position yourself in a way where you can get a rebound and a put-back.” Not only did she do that tonight, she got the ball tonight and finished. She was not afraid to get the ball down there and make moves. Her footwork is excellent. You can tell she’s an older player.

Q. I’m asking this in the context of the intentional foul. As tough as Michigan wants to be and is, do you think the ferociousness that Angel played with had some kind of unsettling effect on them that built up over the course of the game?

COACH MULKEY: Are you talking about when they got the intentional? I don’t know that Angel. I can’t answer that. I’m not in those kids’ minds. I can tell you this: I don’t think it was just Angel tonight. Kateri Poole had to guard Brown. Kateri Poole had to guard Brown. That kid is a baller. She took it harder probably than anybody in their locker room, at least it looked like that in their handshake line. That kid is a heck of a ball player. Probably playing out of position. When I played her at Baylor two years ago, she was off guard. We couldn’t stop her. And I had a 6’1″ perimeter player on her. And now she’s playing point guard which made me really nervous. And I just thought that Kateri was just solid. Just anything Brown was going to get, she was going to have to work for.

But I don’t know that it was just Angel. It could have been frustration. I don’t remember what the score was at that time. But now, here’s a coaching move that you have to make a decision on. See, I thought it was going to be Angel shoots two free throws then I get to choose somebody else to shoot the technical fouls and we get the ball back. It’s not that way anymore. They told me anybody could shoot those free throws. Anybody could shoot it. What do I do? Do I go with the percentages on who on that stat sheet — you analytics guys will love this. Who on our stat sheet is our best free throw shooter? Alexis Morris. Alexis hadn’t hit too many shots. I don’t even know if she had been to the foul line yet.

Angel had been to the foul line. I had to make a decision right there. And chose Alexis for a lot of reasons. One, she’s the best free-throw shooter we have statistically. And two, I needed her to have something good happen. And Angel’s good with it. But now, see, if I’m Angel at the next practice, I’m giving her a hard time. Because I’ve done that twice this year. And Alexis is 2/4 on Angel’s 4 free throws. So I’ll kind of talk a little trash with them and, you know, get their attention. But those are split-second decisions.