BYU practices, talks to the media

Tampa, Fla. - with under 24 hours from playing its first game in the 2015 NCAA Women's Basketball Championships, BYU women's basketball practiced in the Sun Dome on the University of South Florida campus.

Head coach Jeff Judkins along with senior forward Morgan Bailey and junior guard Lexi Eaton, also spoke with members of the local and national media about their season and their first round opponent, Louisville.

2015 NCAADivision I women’s basketball championship

First Round · Louisville vs. BYU
Sun Dome · Tampa, Fla.
Saturday, March 21

PRACTICE DAY 1 - BYU

Jeff Judkins, BYU, Head Coach
 

Do you think it’s a big that you’re not at home or Louisville, but that you’re on a neutral site?

Yeah I think it’s to an advantage to us not to play them at home when they have to travel themselves. They had to make a little effort to get here, it wasn’t quite as hard as ours but it was not easy. It wasn’t like getting out of bed and going to practice. I feel bad because they’ve had a great season and wanted to host it but things have to bounce your way so hopefully we’ll take advantage of that. I know my team didn’t really know stats until media brought it up to them. They just looked at the opponent, they didn’t really care where we were playing. We’re excited to make the tournament and excited to play an ACC team. Which we think is, at least in the woman’s game, the talk that the ACC is one of the best conferences. That’s more what they were focused on and of course they saw Tampa and sun where they could come lay out. For me I didn’t look at that at all, I looked at how far it was, but in general that’s what they look at.

As a general rule, what do you think of having home teams play at home?

We’re trying to get better and I think whatever we can do to have a great atmosphere I think most of the coaches are will to do it. Do I think it’s fair? No, it’s not fair to play on your own court. I’m going to honestly tell you that Louisville and South Florida don’t want to come to our place and play us, they don’t want to go home-and-home. What does that tell you? It tells you that people know that you can play well at your own court and will take advantage of that. To get a good atmosphere and be able to give what I think these young ladies deserve then maybe that’s what we have to do. It’ll be a challenge and an upper hand for those top seed teams but they work really hard to get there. Every team wants an opportunity and I think that’s the best thing for us.

Last year you had two wins as a low seed, do you worry that that’s much harder to surprise somebody?

Yeah there’s no question I guarantee Jeff (Walz) has used that the whole week. Saying, ‘Hey they’ve beat North Carolina State in their league last year and they’re not afraid of you. They’re going to come in and play their game.’ So I’m sure he’s played that for his team. I think both of my players said it well. They know if they come out and play their game and do things they need to do, especially those two (Morgan Bailey, Lexi Eaton), then we’re going to be hard to beat. They’re going to have to play their best maybe not top of their game but they’re going to have to play good enough to beat us.

What is their (Louisville) game and your game?

They’re really balanced with a hard coach that keeps such balanced scoring and their inside presence and he subs. He plays different lineups and like Morgan said they run a long pace and you can’t take them all the way because you don’t know what he’s going to run. Jeff (Walz) likes to run certain stuff when he thinks he has a mismatch someway and I have a 5-11 power forward. I’m sure he’s going to try and get the ball against her so I can do a better job with my team defensively of trying to stop that. I think offensively he’s going to have to guard us. Morgan doesn’t say much about her offense ability but she’s as good as anybody in the country. She scored 30 on Oregon State with a 6-8 center. Lexi, she athletic as any girl on their team. She can shoot it, she can put the ball on the ground, she gets the basket, she aggressive. If those two come out and do what they need to do and other players play as well as they did in the tournament then we can give them a good game tomorrow.

They say this is the first year Louisville has three player have 100 assist and spreading around a few really good passers, is that something you’ve noticed?

Yes, they really move the ball well. I think part of is they have a lot of seniors that were role players early in their career and they have gotten more responsibilities and with that they pass the ball well and give it up. They can change their line up in many different ways. They can go big, they can go small, they can go kind of average and it makes it kind of hard for you as a coach to worry about that. The other side of the coin that you have look at and say there’s only 1 basketball and defensively you have to stop and be able to do things. Hopefully we can get them off balance a little bit.

UConn is at the top of this tournament and has been for the past few years, what do you think the impact it has on you sport? Is it good to have a giant at the top like this?

Geno’s comment is “Come catch me.” I think it’s good to have someone that’s really good and everybody wants to beat them but I also think I’d like to see somebody else in the Final Four and somebody else win it. A lot of college coaches work hard and they recruit hard, they coach hard and it’s be nice to see somebody else in there. The goal we had last year when we played them was to get Geno Auriemma to take his coat off and throw it in the bench and that worked. If Jenn hits three foul shots at the half we’re up eight, nine points at the half then it’s a different game. She misses them and the come down on the courts and they go on an 18-0 run on you. I would like to see more teams more equal. I think we’re getting close. I still think we are a little ways away. But I think we’re getting closer. There is no question the media coverage, the television, the interest in women’s basketball is getting so many more athletes to look at not going to just one place. When I first started coaching 14 years ago, all I heard was that I want to go to Tennessee or UConn. That’s all I heard. Now I get a couple kids that say, ‘Well I like UConn, but I like Louisville, or I like South Florida, or I like Villanova.’ So it’s getting better that way. I hope we can keep working on that. Going to the tournament has helped us recruit a lot. It’s helped them learn a lot about BYU and what we have to offer and what kind of system we run. I got a kid from New Zealand. I got a kid from a couple areas because of that. Hopefully we get their again. Hopefully we meet them again. We have to go through some pretty tough games to get there. But if we get there, I would love that challenge. That’s one thing that Morgan (Bailey) doesn’t shy away from. She plays (Brianna) Stewart, which is the best player in the country and she played her toe-to-toe. Morgan is used to this so it’s not like she’s going to be afraid tomorrow because Louisville has a lot of good bigs. She’s going to attack them. Her uncle Thurl (Bailey) said ‘don’t be afraid, just play your game so she’s looking forward to this.’

When teams like you break in at No. 12 is it a process to not have blowout scores in the first round like their used to be in the women’s game?

I think one of the biggest issues is they don’t leave. They don’t go to the WNBA. They stay four years. If you think about that, the Kentucky men would be dominating more than they are. Think of where UCLA would have been. They lost four guys to the draft. That’s what happens. These young ladies stay here four years and they are good coaches so they get better. They get more confident. If you look at the men’s games from yesterday, they had veteran men’s teams that beat a better team that was higher seeded because they believe that they are David and not Goliath. Mya Moore, had been there for a long time, Brianna Stewart has been here for a long time. It makes it a little bit harder, but it’s gradually getting better and better. The coaching is getting better. We hope that someone will be able to do it. We hope that someone is us.

What’s the makeup of your roster for your women’s team? Is it similar to the BYU men’s team?

I’ve had a few girls go on missions. I’ve got one right now that I’ve decided to recruit, she is on a mission right now instead of coming and playing. It’s an issue with us because they can go now at a younger age. I think coach Dave Rose has it a little harder. They can go at age 18, so they can go right out of high school. It’s been hard. The one thing we’ve had to deal with that a lot of people don’t know is an honor code. It’s not easy to live that. The second is education at BYU is really important. I’ve coached both the men and the women and the women worry about finals and school more than the men do. This is the first time in 12 years that I have not had a girl on my team married. Now, three of them are engaged. So you are dealing with that and so many issues that people just don’t realize. But I can say that the two that are here today (Bailey, Eaton), they’re focused and work as hard as anybody I’ve ever coached. And that’s what makes it special.

Pardon the ignorance of this, but do you play on Sundays?

We do not play on Sunday and we do not practice on Sunday. One of our biggest goals at BYU is to get to the Final Four and change the whole schedule. You know it’s really funny, the first year we got the sweet sixteen, we ended up losing to Pat Summitt. We were trying to figure out what to do. Then last year when we got to the sweet 16, they were talking about it. We were talking about it so they know that was one of our goals, to get to the final four and get that changed.

What would you do if they didn’t change it?

We wouldn’t play.

So what about this Sunday?

We would not practice at all. We have a young lady from this area, Kristine Fuller. So we hope we win so we can go to her church.

Morgan Bailey, BYU, Forward

To get a break in the bracket and not have to play Louisville on their home floor, is that something you guys noticed right away and kind of want to use to your advantage?

I’m sure, yeah, it’s big that we’re both kind of in neutral ground. We both won’t have the fans and they have a crazy fan base, so it’s cool to play somewhere that’s different for both of us, and it puts us on an even playing field.

What’s going to be the key to beating Louisville?

Just who’s going to come out and gut it out for 40 minutes. They call it March Madness for a reason. Put together one good game and you could upset a really good team, so we’re excited to go.

What impresses you most about Louisville as a team?

I think it’s just their athleticism is crazy. I think they’re well coached and they have a lot of plays that they run. They see mismatches really well. When they see it, they go at it until it’s exhausted, so it’s going to be interesting to see what they do against us and how they guard us.

I think two 14 seeds won yesterday on the men’s side. Can you take any comfort from that?

Yeah, we take comfort from that and also just our last year run. I mean we were a 12 seed or something and beat a four or five seed and gave a good run to the number one seed who ended up winning. I think we take comfort in seeing upsets and being a part of upsets last year.

Is it true that your uncle is Thurl Bailey?

Yes, my uncle is Thurl Bailey.

What have you learned from him and kind of seeing him reach the highest part of the sport?

I learned a lot from Thurl, just seeing him on that Cinderella team for NC State a while back and he’s been there for me to give me advice on my game, so, yeah, he’s done a lot for me.

What do you think about what UConn has done for your sport in the past few years, and do you think it is good for the sport to have one dominant team, and is it good for somebody to beat them?

I think it’s cool to have a dominant team on the women’s side and a fun team to watch. I think it pushes all the other teams to kind of mirror what they’re doing. It was a good challenge for us last year and we hope to get a second whack at them this year.

Lexi Eaton, BYU, Guard

Obviously so many of you from this team were around for last year’s run, tell us how much your success there gives you confidence for this year, even as a number 14 seed.

It makes a big difference. It kind of changes your perspective because you’ve played against these top-seed teams and been successful, so we really rely on that experience and our experience last year.

I know you haven’t faced too many teams of the same caliber as Louisville, but you faced Oregon State, and they’re a three seed as well, having played them and played them close, does that help give you a sense of how you can play against a team like Louisville?

Yeah, it does, for sure. Because we know we’ve played against these top teams, like I said before, and we have a feel for their style, and their mentality, and so we feel comfortable.

What’s going to be the key to beating Louisville?

I think it goes back to the fundamentals. It’s not anything crazy. It’s whoever is going to be the aggressor in the game, boxing out, playing fundamental defense. It’s really just who’s going to execute those things.

What do you think about what UConn has done for your sport in the past few years, and do you think it is good for the sport to have one dominant team, and is it good for somebody to beat them?

I think any competition is good for any sport. It rises everybody’s game and challenges everybody, which is always good.

What mentality did you have against UConn last year?

It’s one game. You have to put together one game and that’s kind of how we took it. We didn’t come in scared, because we’ve seen teams do that to themselves. They come in and kind of beat themselves before it starts, so we came in with a fearless mentality.