"What were you doing defensively": When Jeff Walz had a bold response to Kim Mulkey's criticism as Baylor coach

Louisville Women’s Basketball Coach Jeff Walz made headlines in 2013 after his team’s run to the Final Four as he delivered a fiery post-game response to criticism from then-Baylor coach Kim Mulkey.

After the Cardinals shocked the favorites in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, Mulkey had plenty to say about Louisville’s physical style of play. So Walz did not hold back in his reply as well.

In a video posted by TheCrunchZone on April 4, 2013, Walz responded directly to the backlash:

“The emails I’ve received about that. 'Oh, I’ll never watch a Louisville team play. I’m a 63-year-old ex-coach and you embarrassed our game.’ Honestly, they’re comical after a while.”

Mulkey, who now coaches LSU, was vocal in questioning the way Louisville defended her star center, Brittney Griner. But Walz flipped the script with one simple question:

“What were you doing defensively?”

Baylor had entered the game as the defending national champions with Griner dominating the college scene. However, Louisville pulled off one of the tournament’s biggest upsets edging Baylor 82-81 in a thriller. Walz added in his tirade:

“People talk about, 'Oh, this is what you did to Baylor! This is how you defended them!' They scored 81 points. They average 81 points. We obviously didn’t do that great of a job defensively. What everybody seems to forget is that we scored 82 points. No team in Brittney Griner’s four years scored more points than we did against them.”

Walz also addressed the criticism Mulkey directed at Louisville’s physical approach, saying his players simply competed hard and stayed aggressive.

“Our kids were out there trying to compete, trying to get in her space, trying to make it as difficult as possible for her to score. And we did a great job of that.”

He did not stop there. Walz, who received a technical during the game, poked fun at the officiating inconsistency:

“I got my technical foul 'cause I was outside the coaching box. … But I also learned you can run up and down the court and rip off your clothes and that’s apparently okay.”

Walz and Mulkey have a history of on-court tension and conflict, having clashed in the past during the NCAA Tournament.

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When the NCAA reprimanded Jeff Walz and Kim Mulkey

In 2011, the NCAA publicly reprimanded both Kim Mulkey and Jeff Walz for their actions during the tournament.

Mulkey was reprimanded for disparaging comments about the bracket, after being placed in the same bracket as Big 12 rivals Texas A&M, who they had played three times in the regular season.

On the other hand, Walz was reprimanded for using abusive language towards game officials and kicking the scorer's table.

In addition to the telling-off, the NCAA also withheld an undisclosed championship per diem allowance from both coaches.

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Edited by Satagni Sikder