The LSU Tigers’ season came to a disappointing end in late March, when they lost to the Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet 16 in a heartbreaking fashion, 87-85. It was a disappointing end for Kim Mulkey’s team. The Blue Devils got the chance to play in the Elite Eight, where they themselves fell to the UCLA Bruins.
In a recent interview with WAFB, Mulkey opened up about the defeat at the Sweet 16 round, dissecting what led to the loss. At one point, the interviewer brought up some comments from assistant coach Bob Starkey about the loss, and Mulkey seemed to agree with him on the reasons for the defeat, specifically about the fact that once the Tigers left Baton Rouge, they seemed to lose momentum:
“Certainly, the opponent has a lot to do with that… But the thing he’s talking about, we discussed it at length. We didn’t seem excited. We didn’t seem energized. We seemed lethargic… And we had great practice… And it just seemed like we were just moving in mud.” (4:15)
She went on to say that she continuously thinks about the moments before the game against Duke. Whether she allowed players to train for too long, if they slept too long, if they chose the wrong hotel, and a million other questions about what led to their defeat.
At one point in the interview, she also spoke about the fact that the Tigers only had eight assists during the game. To her, that’s a sign they were playing a lot of one-on-one basketball, but not enough basketball as a cohesive unit.
Kim Mulkey Reveals Exciting News About LSU’s Transfer Portal
During the interview, Kim Mulkey also spoke about what’s ahead for her team. She shared a bit of exciting news about the LSU Tigers’ roster’s future. All players are returning for the next season at Baton Rouge:
“You cannot understand the value of having all of them come back,” Mulkey said. “That’s how you build it. That’s how you get over that hump of an Elite Eight. When you look at those that are coming back — freshman, freshman, sophomore, junior sophomore — and look how much they did this year.
“And so, man, if they come back, they stay together, they play together. That’s how you build it. That’s the way it’s supposed to be done, so I am blessed that all of those great players are coming back.”
This is a unique achievement for a coaching staff during the modern era of college athletics, with the transfer portal and NIL, as basically are players are now “free agents.” It’s a statement to the work being done by Kim Mulkey along with her staff, that all players remain committed.
Read More News:
Tennessee Women’s Basketball Transfer Portal: Full List of Players Entering and Exiting
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