Kenny Payne Critical of Louisville's Step Back in Effort Against North Carolina
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Heading their game against North Carolina this past Saturday, the Louisville men's basketball program seemed like the were on the verge of a possible turnaround.
Sure, they had lost their last six games heading into the showdown with the Tar Heels, but their overall energy and effort had been a far cry from the first month of the season, and seemed to be getting better. In fact, had they been a little more consistant with it against Syracuse, Wake Forest or Clemson, they might have been able to capture their first win in ACC play this season.
Then the game against UNC happened, and it was reminiscent of some of the lopsided blowouts from late November and early December. By the time the clock hit double zeroes, the Cardinals had been handed an 80-59 defeat to fall to 2-16 overall and winless in ACC play in seven tries.
First year head coach Kenny Payne wasted no time criticizing his players for the way they had performed.
“It’s real simple, I had multiple guys on the court today who didn’t compete," he said in his postgame opening statement. "You can’t win. They didn’t play with fire against a very good North Carolina team. You can’t win. ... I take nothing away from North Carolina, like I said in the beginning, they’re a very good team. But when you play a game and you get two or more guys that are starting or playing major minutes that are negative 20 (in plus/minus), it’s impossible to make that up anywhere."
Turnovers, as it has all season long, played a huge role. While both teams committed the same amount, 14, North Carolina tallied 23 points of them to Louisville's eight. The Cardinals were dominated 40-31 on the boards, despite a lengthy stretch were preseason ACC Player of the Year Armando Bacot had to sit due to foul trouble. Then of course, UofL shot just 37.0 percent from the field and were 1-of-14 on threes to UNC's 47.4 percent and 7-of-24, respectively.
Then you glance at the individual performances. El Ellis did finish with a team-best 22 points to be the only Cardinal to finish in double figures, but that was accompanied by a team-worst -22 plus/minus. J.J. Traynor, earning the start in place of an injured Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, had a plus/minus of -20 on top of just two points scored. Jae'Lyn Withers, despite getting eight points and a team-best eight rebounds in his first start of the new year, was -17 in plus/minus. Then there was the fact that Louisville got only 10 bench points to 26 for North Carolina.
"You decided to wear this jersey, you have an obligation to come out here and fight. You’re not just fighting for yourself, you’re fighting for the university, you’re fighting for this community and you’re fighting for your own self and you’re fighting for your teammate," Payne continued after the game. "We’ve got guys don’t fully understand that, and I’m not blaming them all the way. I love them, but there is a responsibility that you’re got to have to play a certain way with a certain fight, with a certain togetherness that you’ve got to have to play this game. And to play it here, it means something."
However, it wasn't all bad against the Heels. As the contest unfolded in real time, Louisville actually had a real chance to put North Carolina on the ropes, but just wasted the opportunities.
They were down just three with just two minutes to go until halftime, only for the Tar Heels to fire off an 8-0 run. The Cardinals responded with a quick five-point spurt to start the second half to get within six, and then everything just fell apart after that.
A couple days removed from the game, and some time spent breaking down the film by himself, and Payne still doesn't understand why his team simply couldn't maintain that effort as they tried to mount a comeback.
"I don't know why they let go," Payne said Monday on the weekly ACC Coaches Call. "I don't know why they don't understand, at moments, how important it is to trust each other. To fight through possessions, to do it together, to mentally be strong enough to withstand a run of another team. It's frustrating at times, it's disappointing at times. But at the end of the day, we got to figure that out.
As with every first practice following a game, Payne will spend roughly an hour's worth of Monday's practice in the film room with his players, breaking down the runs that North Carolina made in an attempt to determine their causes. Payne is hoping that they can get back on the right track as it pertains to Louisville's energy and effort problems.
"Where were the mistakes? Why were there those mistakes? Are those effort mistakes or those mental mistakes? What are those? Then we'll talk about how we fix them, or continue to talk about how we fix them," Payne said Monday.
Louisville will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 18 to host Pitt (12-6, 5-2 ACC) at the KFC Yum! Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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