What Chris Mack, Louisville Players Said After 79-63 Loss vs. NC State
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Thanks to a lights-out shooting effort from the opposition, Louisville fell 79-63 to NC State for their first losing streak of the season.
Here's what head coach Chris Mack, forward Sydney Curry, guard Noah Locke had to say following the loss:
Head Coach Chris Mack
(Opening Statement)
“Bad night for Louisville, give Coach Keatts and his team all the credit in the world. They came to play. Some of our guys didn't, I was encouraged by a few guys that didn't start. Sydney (Curry) was tremendous. He’s been the same guy every single day. When he didn't play, same guy. We're trying to figure that out, but I gave him all the credit in the world. There were a few times we started to make mini runs in the second half and Terquavion (Smith)… some of the shots he made were absurd. Regardless of that, NC State was a much better team and they played with a bounce. We could not stop them, whether we played zone, whether we played man, whether we picked up full court.”
(On having to reevaluate the starting five on a consistent basis)
“I feel like I'm reevaluating constantly. I don't know what I'm getting when I put a player in. Usually when you put a guy in, you know what he's going to bring to the table. To have three starters at halftime out of the five with zero points and be outscored 31 to six by their starting five only then go out and get down 8-0 in the second half. I have no explanation.”
(On if installing the defense at the start of the season has had any impact on the team’s recent struggles)
“We didn't have struggles until the last three games. We were 12th in the country defensively until three games ago. So, unless guys just forgot, that has nothing to do with it. It's called effort and intensity and we've lacked that in the last three games. To the point that we need to defend the teams that were playing. NC State is a very dynamic offensive team. They have some guys like Dereon (Seabron), who’s going to be a pro. I think Terquavion (Smith), in time, whenever that maturity comes for him as a player, he’s a pro and he looked like one – they looked like one.”
(On if there were concerning trends over the past three games on the defensive end)
“I think the last three games, certainly: tonight, Florida State and then Pitt, we were extremely poor on the defensive end. We get guys straightlined, our answer becomes fouling and not defending without fouling and the challenges only get greater.”
(Have you seen this kind of inconsistency where you can’t find an answer?)
“No, I haven't. It's frustrating to say the least. You have to know, as a coach, when you put a guy in what you are getting. How can you coach a game where a guy will get 12 and nine and play solid defense and next game not scratch and turn the ball over three times? I’m not saying the guy’s got to get 12 every single game, but, my goodness we’ve got some juniors and seniors.”
(What do you look for in yourself as a coach to try to spark something?)
“I think about it 24/7. It's all I think about. My family doesn't even believe I am at the house. That's all I think about.”
(What was the reasoning on the starting line change with El Ellis?)
“El has been playing well - he's got a long way to go defensively. I thought Noah Locke hasn’t played well defensively. Noah responded the way he needed to on the offensive end but again, you can't give points and then get points from the other guy. He's got to be able to hold his water at that end of the floor. El was a bit more dynamic in terms of getting in the lane for our team. But he didn't play very well tonight. Again, I go back to our need for consistency across the board.”
(Is there anything you point your finger to for the inconsistency?)
“No, Malik got in foul trouble against Pitt and our numbers went south, but I don't think that had really anything to do with another that might have been a tough matchup for our guys. Really we're not guarding the ball nearly like we did early on.”
(What can you do to get turnovers down and manage that portion of the game?)
"We work on, and it doesn’t look like it, ball-toughness drills every day, even when we don't have turnovers. I've never seen more possessions where guys get the ball knocked out of their hands, deflected, dropped. A guy will make a simple chest pass to his teammate. It'll hit his hands, drop to the ground, and he'll pick it back up and throw it. I've never seen anything like it. So we get pads out. We get our walk-ons up into the players, pressuring them, and it continues in practice. It's frustrating to say the least. It's something that we see, we know, we're addressing, and it's not improving at times. It's not as if we don't see it and aren’t addressing it. We do it daily: over and over and over."
(What’s the priority in improving?)
"The thing is, you have to address both. If we turn the ball over against a good team like NC State, it really doesn't matter how solid your defense is, because you can't defend three-on-ones with Seabron going to the rim and Terquavion Smith spotting up in the corner. To guard four ACC players at breakneck speed with two or three defenders isn’t working. So we have to address both things. You only have so many hours in the day, but we're going to keep at it. It's a long season, but we need to improve quickly and rapidly."
(Are the players showing different consistencies in practice compared to games?)
"No, we see a lot of the same mistakes in practice. Again, we’ve to be able to value practice so that we can transfer it over to the games. This isn't like we step on stage and are frozen. We see the same mistakes happen in practice and we're working to correct them and we’ve got to work harder."
Forward Sydney Curry
Guard Noah Locke
(Photo of Chris Mack: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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