‘You have to guard us’: LSU’s Alexis Morris slams Iowa’s ‘disrespectful’ defense before championship game after Caitlin Clark appeared to give up guard to South Carolina
LSU Tigers guard Alexis Morris issued a warning to Iowa before the NCAA National Championship game after watching their semifinal tactics.
Morris criticized the Hawkeyes for their relaxed approach to South Carolina’s defense during their 77-73 win Friday night.
Iowa decided to shut out the paint instead of defending deeply and Morris claimed it was “disrespectful”.
I watched the game, and I’m watching them guard South Carolina. “I don’t think they can guard us like that,” Morris said.
I don’t think you can leave me open to the ocean or leave us open to the ocean. Personally, I find that very disrespectful, so I’m going to take that personally with this game.
Alexis Morris says she found Iowa’s defense against South Carolina ‘disrespectful’
Caitlin Clark was seen waving the Gamecocks’ ballhander off and leaving it wide open
You have to guard us. That’s just a competitor in me, and the will to win.
Iowa star Caitlin Clark went viral in one segment of the game after she was seen waving the ball from a South Carolina hanger, leaving it wide open from three-point range.
Morris led LSU in a Final Four victory over Virginia Tech with 27 points and has featured heavily in several clutch moments for the Tigers this season.
Clark commented on the way her team defended against South Carolina by saying that the team chose to follow a “pick your poison” game plan and chose to live with the possibility of being beaten from deep.
“We’re not going to guard LSU the same way we’ve guarded South Carolina,” Clark said. Obviously, with South Carolina, you have to choose poison. If they’re going to beat us, we’ll let them go to the three-point line.
You get to pick and choose your battles. We can’t guard everything. This is a basketball game. You have a scout. You know the players player. What are you going to give up?
This is what we would surrender to. We had all the respect in the world for South Carolina, especially post-play.
Morris wasn’t the only member of the Tigers to make similar comments after seeing Iowa’s defense.
“It was very disrespectful, and (South Carolina) didn’t take advantage of that,” said fellow LSU guard Kateri Poole. “If they do this to us, we will benefit.”
LSU forward LaDesia Williams nodded in agreement when also asked how Morris viewed the disrespectful defense Iowa played
LSU forward LaDazia Williams (L) agreed when also asked about Iowa’s defense
“We don’t really know their game plan and how they are going to guard us,” Williams said.
“I hope I don’t like it otherwise Lex is definitely going to knock down some 3s, Flau’jae (Johnson), Kateri, they’re all capable of hitting 3s, so I hope they don’t guard us like that.”
LSU has been a much better 3-point shooting team than South Carolina this season.
If Iowa actually used a different defensive strategy that didn’t involve stuffing them with paint, it could probably let LSU star Angel Reese enjoy individual defense and put up impressive numbers like she always does.
If Iowa adjusts its defense, it could open up the inner cabin of LSU star Angel Reese
