DULUTH, GA ― Duke head coach Kara Lawson believes the ACC is underrecognized nationally. She wants more acknowledgement for the league and its gamers.
“There’s so much quality in our league. For whatever reason, our league doesn’t garner the same amount of headlines as other leagues, and our players don’t garner the same amount of headlines as other players, but the quality here is really high,” Lawson mentioned on Saturday after her team held off Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
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“Look at [Taina Mair] to my left. That’s one of the best point guards in the country. You just have to watch the games to realize that. She’s a winner, and she competes, and she wins. She plays both sides of the ball, and she does whatever we need to win the game. Somehow, that quality has gotten lost in how we evaluate players.”
Lawson mentioned a very powerful stat for a degree guard is successful. True to kind, with below two minutes remaining in regulation, Duke was up by only one level when Mair made a important 3-pointer to push Duke up by 4. The Blue Devils superior to the ACC Tournament Championship for the second consecutive yr and can face Louisville at midday on Sunday (ESPN).
Lawson wasn’t the one ACC coach who not too long ago requested for more nationwide recognition. Louisville head coach Jeff Walz additionally wants more acknowledgement.
“When we get a narrative, we stick with it. We aren’t very good, at as stories develop and teams develop, of talking about them. And we’re not the only team,” Walz mentioned.
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“We’re gonna beat that useless horse so long as we will. That’s simply kinda what we do in women’s basketball. So, it would not shock me.”
Lawson mentioned the ACC helped develop her group due to the extent of competitors, however many level to Duke’s non-conference schedule as a cause for the group’s success.
“I don’t know if the schedule made us win today or not, but I know it’s gotten us to this point, and we grew to where we are now because of the schedule. Not just the non-conference, [but] also the league,” Lawson mentioned.
“I want to say this about our league because we go against some of the top teams and the top coaches in the country in our league, and everyone wants to talk about our non-conference schedule and how that prepared us. Our league prepared us, too. The ACC prepares you. You go against top players. That’s how you grow and get better.”
This article initially appeared on USA TODAY: Duke coach Kara Lawson wants more respect for ACC women’s basketball
