What Kenny Payne Said After Louisville's 90-65 Loss at Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Heading up to Wake Forest after putting together a largely competitive showing at North Carolina, the Louisville men's basketball program was anything but, falling 90-65 thanks to abhorrent perimeter defense.
Here's what head coach Kenny Payne had to say following the loss:
Head Coach Kenny Payne
(Opening Statement)
First of all, hats off to Wake Forest. The way they played, 18 three says it all. ... They put us on our heels. We didn't communicate well enough, we didn't defend well enough - [audio gap] - This game, I think that when we decided to switch, there was no need to tag anywhere. So when you switch, you already have another player. We decided to tag, and they throw it to that player they tagged. Or they get us in penetration, or they act like they drive it, not really drive it, and throw it a guy because we suck in, and he's stepping into a rhythm three. We talked about making them make tough twos, but they shot the ball well.
(On why this game wasn't competitive despite recent games being so)
There are no excuses. At the end of the day, we gotta go out and perform. We got to go out and play with a fight. Really, we got to go out and defend. The elephant in the room, is if we allow a team to shoot the ball like that, you're not winning. If they make 18 threes, you see what happens, you're going to lose by 20 or more. I can't remember last time a team made 18 threes on a game. That's pretty special
(On why he decided to start Zan Payne)
I knew that we had to defend. I thought that Zan could come in - the same with Hercy (Miller), the same with DLo (Danilo Jovanovich), the same with whoever I put in the lineup - and just give me solid minutes defensively. I thought he did a decent job. I say it all the time: if you got a jersey on your back, I'm not afraid to put you in there and let you play. Again, I don't need guys to knock it out the park. I need you guys to be solid on the defensive end, make shots hard, talk, communicate, and react to what's going on on the court. That's not really hard to do.
(On how disappointed he was that his team did not have any competitive spirit)
No question about it. I think that sometimes young people feel like I don't have to do things early in the morning. That's no excuse. I feel like when you step between those lines, you have to compete. You got to fight. You got to know who you're playing against. You got to know that this is a war, and that the team that you're playing against is pretty good. They added another player that made him even better. We don't have the wiggle room that most teams have. We are down, and we got to go out the only way we can to even compete. To be in a game, we have to fight
(On what it will take for Curtis Williams or Kaleb Glenn to crack the starting lineup)
I think they are growing as players. I'll say it again: I trust everybody. Curtis has been playing well. Curtis found the rhythm coming off the bench, and I want him to start, but I want him to be comfortable on the basketball court. That's what that is, and Kaleb is learning. We've had to play him at the five with Brandon (Huntley-Hatfield), so basically he's learning and getting on the floor, and he's fighting. I'm not disappointed in those guys in the least bit. I need them to continue to learn and continue to get better, because pretty soon, I can no longer say they're freshmen.
(On how to prevent this result from snowballing)
I think we just keep doing what we're doing, and do it harder, do it better, do it with more discipline. We practiced hard a day or so ago, and it was a very energetic practice, but we have to come out and compete in games, and know what teams are trying to do. It's not getting any easier. This is a great conference, and we face Duke next. We better play well, and we better fight at home, and try to put them on their heels.
(On what he is looking to do to shore up the defensive efforts)
I think the mentality that you got to have is, you can't allow the mentality to be "you score, I score. We shoot a high percentage, they shoot a high percentage. Over the course of a game, he best offensive team is going to win." We got to get stops in order to win games. When you look at our best games, and the games that we won, the games so we've had a real chance to win, we've done decent defensively. We just got to continue to do that, and not allow teams to shoot in the high 40s, 50, 60 percent against us. That's a problem.
(Photo of Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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