LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) The Louisville men’s basketball team’s comeback effort against NC State fell short in their first game after snapping their extended road losing streak, falling 89-83 Saturday at the KFC Yum! Centre.
Following the loss, here’s what head coach Kenny Payne, guard/forward Mike James, and forward Curtis Williams had to say:
Kenny Payne, Head Coach (Opening Statement)
“We played a team that I knew would be difficult to beat. They’re a good side that plays hard and is very effective at press defence. They came after us with a 12-0 run to start the game. After that, when we settled down and became the aggressors, I thought to myself, “Look, we shot 47 percent from the field, 53 percent from three, and 76 percent from the free throw line; we forced them into 15 turnovers; how did we lose?” You must defend because they shoot 54 percent from the field, 50 percent from three, and 88 percent from the free throw line. It’s that simple: if you don’t defend, you don’t win.”
(When you say you’ve’settled down’ in front of the press, is it something you weren’t expecting to see or did it throw off your rhythm?)
“We worked on it for three days because we knew the press would be there.” We talked about not being tentative in front of the press, but for the first five, six, seven minutes, we were, and they felt it, creating turnover and boosting their confidence.”
(NC State’s DJ Horne scored six three-pointers; why was he so open?)
“Everything hinged on [DJ] Burns. We knew Burns would be a weight for us; we knew we had to protect Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield], and one of the ways we wanted to protect Brandon was to trap the post, so we discussed a location on the floor where we could trap. When he wasn’t in that area, we went in and trapped him, and when we weren’t in position, he made a three. I blame myself for some of it; I should have let Brandon fight it out mano y mano, but when he did, he scored four or five times in a row. He’s a jerk. Winning basketball requires meticulous attention to detail. A yard or two yards can mean the difference between winning and losing. We’re meant to leave when he reaches the lane line. We pass him long before he reaches the lane line. They burn us over and over and over.”
(With regard to defensive breakdowns being more of a lack of focus, attitude and effort issue.)
“I’m referring to attention to detail.” We worked on it together. We discussed it. We discussed it. This morning, we walked through it. Again, when you’re in the heat of battle, you may think you want to leave early. You only think about yourself; you don’t converse, and you go straight to the trap. He’s going to set fire to you. He has his head up, his eyes wide, and he is looking for someone to pass it to. You go early, and they hit a three.”
(On praising the progress and what Coach has observed)
“The big thing I’ve noticed is when the coaches call me or Kevin (Keatts) before the game and say,’Man, I’m not looking forward to playing this game.'” It demonstrates that we are gaining respect, but we must complete the task. What would it be like for those guys in the locker room if we won? Do you understand what this would mean? I believe we are improving. I believe we are improving. I know we’re doing the right thing for these kids. We need to make sure kids understand that Louisville means winning and that winning and losing are determined by a slew of minor details.”
(On the verge of turning the season’s corner.)
“I think at first, with all of the guys from Brandon (Huntley-Hatfield) having dominant moments, Curtis (Williams) hit some good shots within the flow of the offence without forcing anything.” Kaleb (Glenn) is rebounding the ball and doing a terrific job of providing physicality for us. TyLaur (Johnson) provides us with energy in spurts, but everyone of those men must contribute more. We can’t have a player have a moment or two and then have his moment or two, and we’re not as good. We don’t have the luxury of making error after mistake after mistake. We must ensure that we are in sync. We cannot afford to give that squad a 12-0 lead. We simply cannot afford it. That is an excellent team. That’s a well-coached squad that thrives on that type of play.”
(Regarding the effect of arena energy on home court advantage)
“Major. Significant influence. These kids need to see the fans that were present today. They must encourage them and assist them in fighting harder. They must pursue us if we do not fight harder. That is how the venues feel when we go to these other arenas and see these teams and compete against them. We need to let our personnel know, as well as other individuals that come in here, why you are important and vital to these kids and why they need you.”
Mike James (guard/forward) and Curtis Williams (forward) (on North Carolina State’s disruptive early press defence)
“They’re a good defensive team; that’s their identity; they press and get into guys,” Mike James says. They rattled us at first, but once we settled down, I think we fared better with them.”
(After winning in Miami and rallying late against NC State despite losing.)
“I feel like we’re making progress as a team,” says Mike James. We’re getting better offensively, sharing the ball, and hitting shots. We’re just competing, so we took some good things from the Miami game, but we just need to clean up some defensive stuff from this game and transfer that over to UNC and Wake Forest next week.”
(Defence that resulted in open shots for NC State)
“DJ Burns is a good post defender, so whenever he got the ball, we were trying to trap him from there,” said Mike James. But, like me, he wasn’t always in a scoring position. We were sending traps too early, so he was reading us and passing out of the trap to open shooters, who were just knocking down shots.”
(On his role and degree of comfort coming off the bench.)
“We had a lot of players go down, so KP’s main thing was for us freshmen to step up,” says Curtis Williams. We’re getting our chance, so all we have to do now is keep going, keep playing, and keep doing what we’re doing. Simply be prepared to go out there and be confident.”
(Regarding the Yum! Center’s energy level)
“I appreciate the fans coming out and rallying with us,” said Mike James. I just want to tell them to stick with us; we’ll keep battling and getting well.”
(On surviving NC State’s scoring runs in order to keep the game close.)
“When he called that timeout early, he just told us that we got all the jitterbugs out, so now we’re ready to go out there and play,” Curtis Williams said. Things began to flow for us once we returned out there. Getting in the lane and getting what we wanted was the most of it.”
(Starting this week and continuing throughout the year.)
“I’d say we can just keep building on it,” says Curtis Williams. We lost by six points today, but we had just beaten Miami. We just need to keep improving in order to be a better defensive and offensive squad.”
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