Jeff Walz wants faster tempo for Louisville offense
The magic number is 70.
Louisville women’s basketball has held opponents to 67 points or less in all but one game this season. The Cardinals (16-1 overall, 5-0 in the ACC) are holding opponents to 57.2 points per game, which ranks third in the conference.
Jeff Walz says his team has done a nice job defensively. The Cardinals lead the ACC in opponent scoring in conference games, limiting teams to 53.0 points per game.
“When we can get to 70, we win a lot of basketball games because defensively we take pride in trying to hold our opponents under 60,” Walz said.
The Louisville head coach sees Louisville’s defensive success based around its team effort. He said the program takes pride in defense. Walz said his team will continue to focus on team defense.
“It’s pretty amazing because we haven’t had an all-defensive player the past two years that have made an all-defensive team in the ACC, which I think it really shows to our team effort, that it takes everyone for us,” Walz said.
While the defense is leading Louisville, Walz is hoping its offense can catch up. He wants to speed up the tempo, which will lead to points.
Walz said it’s simple things like getting the ball out quicker after a made basket, making outlet passes following a defensive rebound and passing better.
“We have had a few chances on ball reversals where we hold onto it an extra second, and now when I make the pass, she is not open,” Walz said. “We have to be able to read a little bit quicker and know where I am going with it before I get it.”
Louisville leads the ACC with 15.9 assists per game and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio with 1.14. The Cardinals had a season-high 25 assists against Miami last week.
