Duke
Duke coach Kara Lawson loves teams composure when trailing
Duke women's basketball head coach Kara Lawson says she loves her team's ability to remain composed, even when trailing by double digits this season.
You know, proud of our second half. Obviously, the first half, there was a lot of uh issues and, you know, all the credit goes to, to Wake Forest for creating those issues for us. We were undisciplined defensively. They did a good job of disrupting us and we had 13 turnovers there in that first half. And then, um, you know, obviously there were lights out from three to go six for six. And so, um you know, that that happens, obviously in our league, it's tough. Um Every night it's a grind and um I just thought we were a little stunned um by how they were playing and, and certainly they did a great job of imposing their will on the game in particular in that first quarter. And uh then in the second half, I thought halftime came at a good time for us. Um We had kind of gotten a little traction scoring at the end of that second quarter and then we were able to, you know, have those 15 minutes to sit, settle in and, and strategically, just talk about what we wanted to do, how we could be better. And um they came out in the third quarter and obviously almost a 50 point second half. Um, so, uh, I'm proud of that. I mean, you know, listen, as a coach, you'd love to play four great quarters 18 times. It's, it's not gonna be that. And, and so what you're looking for is response, you know, and I say this a lot like an individual response to a bad quarter, a bad half or a bad play and then a team wide response to a bad quarter, bad half. And we, we, we had that response and so that's valuable that we're a team that, that has that type of, um, ability. Hey, Coach Kennedy went out pretty early with two fouls in the first quarter. Talk about how her absence impacted you. And yeah, I mean, listen, she's our defensive anchor and so, um, she's one of the best defenders in the country and it's hard to see that for some people because she's not flying through the air and blocking shots and she's not, you know, but her intelligence and her positioning and she's, she's everything for us defensively. So, yeah, to have her go out and, and not play very many minutes in that first half. I thought really we struggled. Um, decision was she had two. I felt like in the second quarter, we were gaining a little traction and coming back. I didn't want to risk putting her in there and getting a third and then I, I have limited minutes with her in the second half. So that was the decision, obviously went with Camilla and Duy, um, there to, to spell those minutes and, um, they're obviously both, you know, good players for us and, and can carry that load, but there's no doubt. I mean, you know, she's, if you think about where we've been defensively the last two years, um, in this league in our numbers, um We, we've been near the top of the league, if not the, the best defensive team in the league. Um, and, um Kennedy's been the primary reason for that. Um, she is a player that organizes our defense. She communicates well, um she's technically sound, um, she is just a AAA incredible defensive player and once again this year, we're near the top, you know. Um, and that's her, I mean, it's 100% her. I think we are leading the league in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense in AC C games in AC C games or we weren't going into to, to that. And, and that's Kennedy, you also talk about some of the exact things you wanted to heart beat on, on half time at half time to set you guys. Right. Yeah, I mean, you know, I said a couple of them earlier, like the 13 turnovers was like, just take care of the ball, you know, like we're a lot better when we're not throwing it to the other team. And so we, we've got to, we've got to take care of the ball. That was a big one. settled down. We had to find a way to take, uh, not give them as many open threes. They were hot. I mean, six for six from three. And a lot of that was breakdowns by us defensively and then obviously good reads by them offensively. So we talked about where those breakdowns were coming from. And during those six threes and talked about how we can correct that. And that was it. It wasn't like I didn't yell, it wasn't emotional. It wasn't like any of that. It was more of problem solving. Ok. That happened. What do we do now? You know, what do we do now? And I, I felt fortunate we were only down seven to be honest with you at halftime, given how poorly we had played and how well they had played. Um, so that was the message to the team and, um, they came out and executed well, the second half, but you're down the first half back, which is I, so you didn't wait until that time to figure it out somehow. They started making some inroads in the first half. Can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, that's what we, we talked about at half with them. It was just more of like, hey, um, let's just cut into this possession by possession. Let's try to get a hold of this and make some good plays and, and people, people did. I mean, that's the, that's the great, great thing about this team and, and they've been like this all year. I mean, you know, you guys have been here like we've been down double digits in the first half to Stanford, to South Carolina to Virginia Tech. I mean, we've been down double digits a lot, you know, I wish it was less. I wish we didn't do that to ourselves, but we're playing good teams. It's gonna happen. So they just have this ability to not let that, um, impact whether they think they can come back or not. And I love that about them. They've, they've consistently done that through the year. Mayor's ability to get downhill. We needed to just put, put some, you know, accelerant into our transition game and we talked with our guards about like they could attack, you know, like don't just cross the half court and be passive, um, try to get some early offense before they set up and, and III, I agree with you. I thought she was terrific. I just probing and getting to the paint and finishing and she's a really good player. She's tough. She's competitive and, and we needed those, those points from her tonight. I know you mentioned, would you be staying closed throughout whether it's, you know, against South Carolina or whether it's against Wake Forest if you're driving by double figures. Um But you've also talked about how this group still need that experience, right? Still learning and growing. So, does it ever, does it ever surprise you that that's something that's almost to them over the course of the year that they don't lose confidence no matter what the game is looking, I think initially it did. Um, because when it's the first time that you're with a group in certain situations, you don't know how they're gonna play and they're gonna react. So, I think definitely a nonconference, um, when it, when it would happen, you know, I would, ok, what are we gonna do? You know, are we gonna get blown out or are we gonna fight back? And, but now that I've been in it with them, um, they, they, they do rattle. I'm not saying they don't rattle. Like there's times where we're just not playing well, many stretches of the game. But, um, when we come in the huddle with them, like they're just always, like, locked in on whatever coach is talking to them and what the game plan is and what we do next and that is something that's been pretty consistent. So, um, I think in the beginning, yes, I was surprised but now I'm not like it's what, what I expect from him.