What Kenny Payne, Louisville Players Said After 61-41 Win vs. Coppin State
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite not playing their best basketball on either end of the floor, the Louisville men's basketball program was still able to come out with a 20-point win, bouncing back to take down Coppin State before heading to New York City for the Empire Classic.
Here's what head coach Kenny Payne, guard Tre White and guard Skyy Clark had to say following the win:
Head Coach Kenny Payne
(Opening statement)
“First of all, defensively, I thought we were pretty good. We held them to their season lows … from the field and … from three. That is a good sign of what we are capable of being defensively. As you can tell, and as you see we beat a team by 20 and didn’t play well, didn’t play great. That shows me that we have a lot of room to grow and get better. It starts with our confidence and our work ethic and starts with our energy. We are a team capable of beating people, but we have to understand the responsibilities and obligations that each person has to make sure we are a good team.”
(About the three point shooting in the first and second half)
“To be honest with you, I am trying to give them freedom. As long as the ball moves and we kick it out, I am good with the threes. I need them to make some of them, so they feel good about it. If I could have all you come to practice and watch us shoot the ball, you’d be shocked about how well we shoot in practice. I have to get them over how they are shooting it in a game. I need to believe that they are going to make shots. I need them to execute their shots and make shots. We are a way better team than how we are shooting right now and a way better scoring team.”
(About why Koron Davis was not at the game)
“Great question on Koron Davis. It was my decision not to have Koron Davis come today. He is not in any trouble. I will not address it right now because this is about the guys who just played tonight. But he is not in any trouble.”
(About tightening the rotation in the game)
“It sort of depended on the how the game unfolded. I loved the energy that Danilo (Jovanovich) gave us in the first half. I thought he played hard, and I thought he was aggressive. Defensively, he was really sound, really good and he was fighting. I have to play guys who have a sense of what the game is. For example, they are small. They don’t have a center. It is hard for Dennis (Evans) to play in those games even though I know I have to get Dennis on the floor more. That is a hard game to play him in, when they play so much on the perimeter. Tre White, for example, 12 rebounds from him, that is what he is. I just need him to make a couple more shots and to do it in the flow of the offense.
(About Sunday and Monday’s games being an uptick in competition)
“I am looking at it like we have to go out and fight. They are going to see that it is ‘Team Us’. They are going to see exactly how hard you have to play possession by possession. We were up 20 and it should have been 28. We were up 15 and it should have been 27. We got casual at times and well, against those kinds of teams when you are up four, you better get it up to eight. When you are up six, you better get it up to 10, because if not, they are going to take advantage of you and they are going to take the lead. They are a big-time program, Texas is, with big time athletes – this is going to be a great test for us to see exactly where we are.”
(About where Skyy Clark and Ty-Laur Johnson could improve)
“I need them to be able to see the play before it happens. More decisive. I think a lot of their turnovers come off by being indecisive. So, for example: the ball is not in their hands and when the ball hits their hands, they are setting it up and then trying to go, instead of hit the hole, hit a gap, drive the ball as soon as it hits their hands. Seeing it before they catch the ball and then make quick decisions and make sound decisions. Don’t try to invent.”
(How much is this time playing at the pace that you want them to and how far away are they from the level that you’d like to see?)
“I like this team. I like us in transition. I like our versatility. We’re going to be – and I hate to say it like this and put this on them, but it is what it is… when JJ [Traynor] brings his energy, when Brandon [Huntley-Hatfield] brings his, his physicality, his fight we’re going to be a really good team. When Tre White and Skyy [Clark] and Mike James play basketball with confidence and instinctively and just reacting to what goes on on the court… they’re young. Really you could say they’re sort of like freshmen-sophomore mix. They’re not really true sophomores, some of them. But, when they get all of this down, and it’s going to be all year, but at some point, they’re going to get it down and when they do, we’re going to be a pretty good team.”
(How do you teach a team confidence, especially when all the noise around trends negative?)
“For me, when I’ve been around great players, great players live with an edge. And I hate to say it like this, there is a fear of failure. And that fear of failure drives them, moves them to be desperate in their work and their process. I can give you an example of a player I one time that was losing confidence in his game and he says, ‘KP, I need you to help me get through this confidence thing, what do I do?’ I put eight minutes on the clock and said ‘For eight straight minutes, you’re going from baseline to baseline and I want you to imagine, every step, you’re running with your heart, and every step, you’re running confidence into your body. You’re running so hard that when it’s over, you know now that you’re a different person. It’s that kind of focus, it’s that kind of fight for your confidence that you’ve got to have. For example, you look at the greatest shooters to ever play the game – let’s say Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson] – they’re shooting the ball so much to where it’s second nature. They know it’s going in, they’re not guessing. Then they have the ability to block out noise, to be singly focused on what my task is and doing that task. I’ve got to get these guys to understand that I know that you’re on the edge. You’re feeling the pressure of the weight of the world which will make you do things and play in a way that is not really the way you need to play. For example, you take a guy like Mike [James] or Skyy [Clark] or Tre [White] and they’re playing to put the team on their backs instead of trusting the process. I don’t need them to try to do it to put the team on their backs, I need them to get lost in the game and by getting lost in the game, their talent, their work, it’ll all come out and they’ll be good players and our team will get better. Instead of being so concerned with what people are saying outside of our circle.”
(Do you think your team has been affected by the noise?)
“I think every program in the country that’s like a Louisville has young people that are affected by what people are saying about them. This generation of kids, they’re into social media, they’re into looking on message boards and what people are saying. In one respect that’s good, in another respect you’d better have the toughness mentally to be able to handle what people are saying. I’ve been blessed, I grew up in an era where it meant nothing to me. I’ve never been on a message board, I wouldn’t know what people were saying about me. I don’t get involved in that. I’m here for those kids. My job is to love them, to every single day come up with a little something that helps them play better, think better, play winning basketball, to take this program and get better. I think we’re headed in the right direction, I believe we’re headed in the right direction. I know we’re headed in the right direction with the type of kids that are in that locker room, it’s just the first steps.”
(Is it concerning to you that fans aren’t showing up for this team? What is your mentality from not seeing it completely full the way it has been in the past?)
“I have a player on this team who transferred from another school. That player saw this arena and was taken aback. He said, “I’ve never played in front of that many people” and there were maybe eight or nine thousand people. So, the people that are coming and the people that have come understand that it’s not normal to have eight or nine thousand. That’s not Louisville. When we win, they’re going to come. And then they’ll get to see the real Louisville. But we have to do our part. I embrace that. I know what it is. I know what it is like to play in front of 19 to 21,000 people every game and then go on the road and it’s full. Everywhere you go people are trying to beat you and you’ve got to fight to get those wins. I want them to experience that, but there is a part of this that we have to bring to the table and that’s the winning part. Then people will come on and support us.”
[On the upcoming Empire Classic] (This will be your first time playing back-to-back games this season. After the experience in Maui last year, how do you get the team ready to have back-to-back games? Is it something you’re looking forward to?)
“I’m looking forward to it. I think we have a golden opportunity to show the world the growth in this program. I’m excited for the young guys to be in a big-time marquee, environment, and event. You look at Texas, Indiana, and Connecticut, who won the championship last year, and that’s the elite of the elite. These young kids are getting an opportunity to be in the forum, in that event with these types of teams. It’s a learning experience. I’m really excited about it. I want my players to play really well and then we’ll see what happens.”
Guard Tre White and Guard Skyy Clark
(On what good came from tonight and what can be improved)
Skyy Clark: “I think our defense was a lot better tonight. I think we were more connected on the defensive side of the ball. We really showed some potential there. Also, on offense in the second half, we started sharing the ball a lot more and shots started coming easier to us.”
(On if Tre White’s first shot going in giving him confidence)
Tre White: “Definitely, yes. But I try to not base my game off making shots and not making shots, but when it went in, it definitely gave me a boost of energy for sure. I just tried to carry that on for the rest of the game.”
(On practice since the Chattanooga game and preparation heading into tonight)
Clark: “After the game and the next day, we had some serious talks with the coaches, the whole team, and everyone on the staff. The last few practices have been really competitive. We were really getting after it. We started hooping a lot more, which I think really started to help continue to build that chemistry.”
White: “To build off that, I feel like as a unit we’re playing a lot more like how we play in practice. I don't know if it was just the first couple of games, nerves or something. But we’re playing together how we play in practice: sharing the ball, playing fast and we mimicked that today.”
(On if the win was an encouraging sign going into the New York Empire Classic)
Clark: “Absolutely. We definitely needed a good win going into New York. Like Coach (Payne) has been telling us, if we play together, play hard on defense, talk and play together on both sides of the floor, then we can compete with anybody.”
White: “He said it all. It all starts in practice, just harping on it. I feel like today we executed more how we play in practice – more together and more focused. Carrying that into New York is what we need.”
(On the serious conversations after the Chattanooga loss and what might have been revealed)
Clark: “Just everyone looking at themselves in the mirror, looking at the things they need to improve on. We weren’t trying to point fingers at anybody but really looking at what we need to work on and what we need to improve on from a player standpoint and from a coaching standpoint. It all starts in practice and at shootaround. If we have a great practice and a great shootaround, then it just builds up that energy and that confidence going into the game.”
(On if the urgency to make shots increases when going through scoring droughts)
Clark: “We just stay confident. We work really hard and we all know that we can really shoot the ball. We know that at some point, we’re going to start clicking from three, so we’re not worried about that. We’re going to keep shooting and they’re going to start falling.
(On White’s double-double and if it was a conscious effort to be more of a rebounder tonight)
White: “Not really. It’s not me being more conscious of trying to get a double-double – it’s more just that we’ve got to win. In some moments, my shot wasn’t falling so we needed rebounds to keep our pace going, so I tried to do whatever we needed to win and tonight, we needed rebounds.”
(On the expectations and preparation for the upcoming matchup against Texas)
Clark: “We know we’ve got to bring it. They’re obviously a really great team, and they have a lot of great players. I got to play against them last year, so I know a little bit of how they play and what they can do. Coming into New York, we really have to be locked in on the defensive end and that’s how we’re going to win. Offense won’t win us anything. We’ve got to be really locked in on defense.”
(Photo of Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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