What Kenny Payne, Louisville Players Said After 83-73 Win vs. Clemson
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Clemson for an in-season rematch, the Louisville men's basketball program was able to notch a win on the night where they honored the 2013 national championship team, pulling off an 83-73 upset to snap a four-game skid.
Here's what head coach Kenny Payne, guard El Ellis, guard/forward Mike James and forward J.J. Traynor had to say following the win:
Head Coach Kenny Payne
(Opening statement)
“I thought we played well. We played one of the top teams in the conference, very good. But it goes to show if you keep working hard, anything can happen. You pour your heart into this, you dedicate yourself to understanding and growing every day, you can get a win. And you can get a win against the best. I thought that’s what we did. One of the better teams in the conference, a well-coached team, an experienced team, very good offensively. But we fought. We fought. We played desperate defensively. There were stretches in that game, three stops in a row, everything they shot was contested. We played well. I’m proud of the guys, it’s more about them than anything else. They deserve it.”
(How much did your kids need a night like this?)
“They couldn’t have picked a better night where the fan support was unbelievable. They got to do it in front of a championship team. The championship team is in the locker room with them right now celebrating. They picked a great night, unbelievable night, unbelievable fan support, unbelievable energy in the building. The way they played, the fight they played with. We’re going to make mistakes, but we can make up for it with effort and energy.”
(JJ (Traynor) seemed to play with an edge that he hadn’t played with in a lot of games. He not only hit shots, he attacked the rim, dunked the ball, had nine rebounds. He’s kind of making a step forward.)
“The thing that I take joy in is JJ (Traynor) didn’t get the chance to play last year, and I’m giving him an opportunity to prove that he’s worthy. Even when he’s not exactly what I want him to be, he still has improved. He’s way better than he has been. I know he probably, if he saw me at night and he had a ski mask on he’d probably shoot me in the back of the head, but it’s because I challenge his behind every single day. I’m hard on him, I demand nothing but the best. There are days, I’ll be honest with you, where he’s fighting it. He looks at me, rolls his eyes, but that’s what coaching is. I love the kid. I want the kid to be great. I’m proud of him with the way he played. That doesn’t mean he didn’t play without mistakes, but he played hard, and it goes to show why you don’t give up on young people.”
(You guys get up by 14 with a little over seven minutes left, and then Clemson goes on a 9-0 run, even pulls within four. As you mentioned, they fought, and there’s been a lot of games where they fought, but still came up short. What was the message to them tonight? Was it any different?)
“Basically, the message was if you want to win this game, you’ll do it on the defensive end. You’ll take quality shots. You notice that the refs are calling a lot of fouls. If you attack the basket strong, you’ll get a foul. They’ll foul you because they’ve been calling it the same way on the other end. We have an advantage, we have a lead, don’t let it end up being a passive jump shot. Make it be something toward the rim. And that’s what we did. The floor was spread, we got great drives. We missed some we should have made, but the other thing is, we got fouled on some and we made free throws.”
(Some of the 2013 players talked about this banner being a first step toward getting the other banner restored. As much as you know about the NCAA, is that realistic? Do you think that will ever happen?)
“That’s a tough question to ask me. I’m not the guy to know that answer, but I can tell you this: That group is loved here, and they should be loved here. What they’ve done inspired a lot of people and made a lot of people happy. There’s only three. There are only three teams that can really say they walked away with it, and they’re one of them. I really don’t know what to say about the NCAA and what they will and won’t do, but I know what this community feels about these young men that played on that team, and I know they love them. Obvious, look at the crowd support tonight.”
(Things got kind of chippy there at the end after that dunk from El (Ellis). Thinking back to the Pittsburgh game where you talked about the kid on the other team talking trashing to you, what are your thoughts on him deciding to close the game out that way?)
“I wish he (El Ellis) wouldn’t have closed the game out that way. I want us to be a team of class and dignity. I don’t want us to showboat. I know he was excited, but at the end of the day, this program, you have to do the right things, you have to act the right way, you have to finish the right way. Not just in wins, but also in losses.”
(The last three games, you guys have really been improving, playing good basketball. What’s that say to the naysayers that gave up on you guys in the middle of the season and kind of quit on you?)
“I don’t know what to say to the naysayers. I, and I hate to say this publicly, but listen, I got a job to do, and every single day I’m fighting young people to be great. At times, they’re fighting with me. There are other times they’re fighting against me. I can’t worry about what the critics are saying. I really can’t. I have faith in God. God didn’t bring me here to fail. I love the young men that are here. I’m trying to change a program, and if that means I change a program with people doubting that I can, I’m changing a program. That’s all I have to say about it.”
(I guess Luke (Hancock) talked to you guys yesterday. How much do you think those guys being around and them being honored tonight added to, definitely energy in the building, but added to the motivation of the team?)
“A couple things. One, when I asked those guys (the 2013 team) to talk, and they talked about what it felt like to win a championship, but also, I asked them, ‘What lessons did you get?’ You’re men now, you’re older now. Do you remember some of the lessons you got from being a part of a team doing something that everybody says they want to do, but very few people win a national championship. What lessons did you get? And I wanted those kids to hear it. Then, after that question, I asked the players if they had any questions to ask those guys, and they asked some decent questions, and I went back to it. Tell me how hard your practices were. Tell me how intense it was when you lost a game. Tell me what the mentality was, of not just your group, but your coaches when you lost a game. I knew the answer. You know the answer. It’s not acceptable. I want them to know that that’s what winning is. You had a great Hall of Fame coach that demanded excellence every single day, and he may have never given you credit, because he wanted excellence. That’s why that team is where they are today. That’s why those young men that were on that team will walk away with lifelong lessons about being successful.
Guard El Ellis, guard/forward Mike James and forward J.J. Traynor
(JJ (Traynor), what has changed for you to help you take your game to another level?)
JJ Traynor: “I would say just having a different mindset. Earlier in the year, I was shooting the ball well so I kind of fell in love with the three and that’s not really my game. I can shoot the ball but lately I’ve been trying to get stuff around the paint first and then work my way out to the three. I think having that mindset and then the coaches want me to bring a lot of energy on defense and I feel like that leads to my offense.”
(How did having the 2013 team around and seeing the fans here today add a little extra pep in your step today?)
Mike James: “It gave us a lot of motivation, just being around those guys and knowing that they would be celebrated at this game. We wanted to do it for them, to play our best for them and play hard. I think we came out and did that, and that was our mindset.”
El Ellis: “Having them around is always great. They always give wisdom, advice, anything that we need they would do it for us. They’re like our big brothers so we just appreciate them. I’m glad that they were here, and I’m glad the crowd came out to show them love because they did amazing things for this program.”
(What do you think the biggest improvement has been over the last couple weeks?)
El Ellis: “I say confidence amongst the group. I feel like everybody has that extra confidence. Guys are getting to their spot, and guys are just out there playing and not thinking – I feel like that’s the biggest thing from the start of the season until now. I’m just proud of my teammates. They go out there and they fight, and we practice hard. We’re not having a great year, but we just continue to fight, and I feel like that’s what’s continuing to keep us in games.”
(What was it like for you guys to see the Yum! Center atmosphere like this?)
Mike James: “It was amazing. Unbelievable. It just puts a different type of energy in you. After the game, you just want it more and more and more. I don’t even have words for it, it was unbelievable.”
JJ Traynor: “Before the game even started, they put the tribute video for the 2013 team (on the big screen) and Luke (Hancock) hits a 3 and the whole crowd goes “Luuuuuke.” We all looked at each other like, “This is crazy.” I think that really just amped us up, and we were making plays and they got louder. It was a dream. It was a good feeling.”
(What was it like in the locker room afterwards?)
El Ellis: “It was a good vibe. Guys are excited, guys are happy, because we’ve been through a lot. Just to get a win against a really good team in the ACC was big. Having that crowd out there tonight was amazing. Like Mike said, it’s unexplainable.”
(JJ (Traynor), you’re Louisville born and bred. You probably grew up going to watch this 2013 team. Had a career high tonight. How does it feel to have your career high in that environment in front of that team in the city you grew up in?)
JJ Traynor: “Heading into this game, it was a big game for me. I knew all of the guys I grew up watching would be there. Just to be able to have my best game so far while they’re all there tonight and us get the win was a dream come true.”
(You’re up 14, Clemson starts to mount that run, what’s going through your mind at that point versus similar situations earlier in the season? What can you draw on from previous games where you’re up ahead and the team starts to come back and pull ahead versus this time where you guys were able to hold them off?)
Mike James: “We took a big step today. I’ve got to give credit to El (Ellis) and Jae’Lyn (Withers). They really pulled us together every time it was a dead ball. When they were making that run, just told us to stay calm. I’ve got to give credit to the coaches too. They really coached us through it. This is something that we can carry on to the next games. When we have leads, just stay calm. They’re going to make a run; they’re going to try to get back into it. Just try to get back to the stuff that we were doing that got us to the lead.”
(When you come to that timeout that Kenny called when they were making that run, what was his message to you guys?)
Mike James: “He was telling us that it was just defense. They couldn’t guard us on the other end, but our defense was starting to slip. He kept showing the clock. He kept pointing at the clock saying we’ve got four minutes left. You get a couple stops; you win the game. We came out there focused on that and got a couple stops and secured the win.
(Photo of Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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