What Pat Kelsey, Louisville Players Said After 85-68 Win vs. Cal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Make that eight straight wins in a row for the Louisville men's basketball program, who took down Cal 85-68 in their penultimate game of the regular season.

Here's what head coach Pat Kelsey, guard/forward Terrence Edwards Jr. and guard J'Vonne Hadley had to say following the win:

Head Coach Pat Kelsey

(Opening statement)

“It was a very physical, tough game. We knew that was the type of game that we were going to get from Cal and from (Mark) Madsen aka ‘Mad Dog’ because the team takes on the personality of the coach. They are tough and gritty. We got three guys who got cuts on their noses and a couple of guys with swollen ankles and all kinds of stuff. It was a hard-fought game. The story of the game was our defense. There was a huge emphasis on No. 0 (Jeremiah Wilkinson) and No. 2 (Andrej Stojakovic) on the scouting report. The other huge emphasis was the glass. They out-rebounded us by two and they had a lot of offensive rebounds. Our percentage isn’t what I wanted it to be, but our guys fought on the glass. I thought they were playing really hard. When guys were going down, with Reyne (Smith) getting hurt, our next-man-up mentality was on display once again. Noah (Waterman) came in and gave us great minutes. Khani (Rooths) and Kader (Traore) stepped up, Frank (Anselem-Ibe) too. Today was indicative of the type of season that we have had. Guys go down, guys step up. Terrence Edwards had a phenomenal night. He had 29 points, there was a technical foul called and I said, ‘Chucky (Hepburn), shoot the free throws’ and he said, ‘no, no, no let Fat (Edwards) do it.’ I just love when that stuff happens. These guys are about winning and about their teammates. Terrence makes the free throws and goes up over thirty. I thought that was really good too. We were fortunate to come out with a win. We have a quick turnaround and heal up and rest up and get ready for a big one on Saturday. We will be honoring our senior class. Many of these guys will have only played one year in a Louisville uniform, and I don’t want to speak for you or the fan base, but I think this group will be remembered around here with love and celebrated for a long, long time for what they have done to put this program back on the map.”

(On limiting Cal offensively and on the offensive glass)

“Well, there was a lot of misses. They were 21-for-71 from the field. We held them to a very, very low field goal percentage and I think that’s a tribute to how our guys played on that end. There were a lot of long shots that turned into long rebounds and their DNA as a team, one of the things they do at elite level, is pursue the ball. That’s all we talked about and all we worked on the last couple of days. They’re hard to keep off the glass. Their two centers that they play are ferocious attacking the ball. Rytis Petraitis is a terrific offensive rebounder and that’s the one area we need to clean up a little bit coming out of this game, but I do think our guys fought. There’s not a ton of strategy but we wanted to send two guys at those big guys. We had to double them several times which opened up bodies for some other guys to get offensive rebounds, but those two are a load and that was a major point of emphasis.”

(On the “next man up mentality”)

“I feel the same way you do. It’s just the resiliency of this team. I think it’s one of the trademarks, the hallmarks of this team; What’s next? Something happens, adversity hits, somebody goes down, nobody blinks an eye. We always say, next man up, next man up, next man up. I’ve said it before, I know it’s a Pittsburgh Steelers thing and I hate paying tribute to the Pittsburgh Steelers because I can’t stand them but, we preach that all the time. When Noah (Waterman’s) name was called, he went in and gave us great minutes. Like I said, Khani (Rooths), Kader (Aboubacar Traore), Frank (Anselem-Ibe), those guys off the bench and then everybody else elevated their game as well. Terrence (Edwards) was terrific, as we know. Again, the story of the game for me is our effort, especially on the defensive end. We’ve become a really, really good defensive team over the last two months.”

(On Reyne Smith injury)

“Yeah. I mean, I don't know what's going on yet. I just know he couldn't come back in the game. I haven't had a chance to talk to talk to Katie [Creznic, UofL trainer]. She just said he can't come back. So, we’ll evaluate it in the morning, and I’ll have more for you after that.”

(On having a bigger line up today)

"I mean, it was really out of necessity more than anything. When Reyne [Smith] went down, you know Reyne [Smith] is 6-2, the guys that were going to replace him are Khani [Rooths], 6-8. Noah [Waterman], 6-10, Kader [Aboubacar Traore]. So, he kind of did it out of necessity. So, I appreciated him giving me credit for it, but it was just the advantage of no choice.”

(On importance of not only having to rely on Reyne [Smith] to be primary perimeter shooter)

“We have a very good shooting team. Chucky [Hepburn] is having the best three-point shooting year of his career. Terrence [Edwards, Jr] can really, really shoot the ball, you know, Noah Waterman can really shoot it. J’Vonne Hadley's become a very effective, reliable three-point shooter, Khani [Rooths, you know, make an open three. We are a good three-point shooting team. We value that in the recruiting process, and we're built that way. So, you know, obviously, Reyne [Smith] elite. Reyne is one of the best shooters in college basketball, one of the best shooters that I ever, ever coached, but we got a bunch of guys who can make shots”

(On holding opposition leading scores [Stojakovic] to a season low)

“He's really good. His dad's one of the greatest players in NBA history, so it's kind of cool preparing and scouting him, and then they showed his dad up to the stands a couple times like, oh my gosh, it's his son. But he's good. He's got a special gift, I believe, is his ability to generate fouls. He's just really good at getting downhill, taking contact, continuing to attack the rim, put foul pressure on you. We really had a big emphasis on defending him without fouling right at the point of attack, one on one. We wanted to try to be physical and chest him up early, and we wanted to try to have the floor be crowded around him as well. You can make threes, but, getting downhill and attacking. I just thought our guys did a good job of being attentive to the scouting report and carrying out their assignment. A bunch of guys guarded him. It wasn't just one guy, but we did a good job. He's hard to prepare for. The other big emphasis was No. 0 (Jeremiah Wilkinson), who also was a very, very good free throw generator. And I thought we did a pretty good job of defending him without fouling.”

(On defensive improvement over the last two months):

“Just the care factor. That’s the best way to describe it, the want-to. I told them, the movement started two months ago, probably right before we played North Carolina. There was just something that was triggered, and we stopped being coach-led on the defensive end and started being player-led. That just matters to them so much. We tried to convince them, or painted a picture that if we want to accomplish the goals that we’ve set out for ourselves, we have to raise the level of our defense. That got into the minds and hearts of our players. I’ve talked several times about Terrence’s improvement on the defensive end, his buy-in. We all know Chucky is special as a defender, J’Vonne Hadley is a terrific defender, but I give Terrence a ton of credit for his commitment to the defensive end. He had 35 points tonight but he poured his heart and soul into the defensive end as well. It’s not just him, it’s all our guys, but that’s the best way to answer the question. It’s just the care factor. Our defense is player-led, and that’s why we’re really good.

(On Noah Waterman’s strong play):

“I mean, he turned his ankle, [but he’s] tough. Breaks his thumb, as I’ve told you guys many times, has four pins put in, keeps playing. We had to make him sit out. He’s just a tough, tough, tough kid, and we need him. Especially with Reyne going down tonight, we needed perimeter shooting, and he made that big three while guarded. He was a really important piece and we’re going to need him to continue to do that moving forward. When something like this happens, when Reyne goes down, it forces guys [to play more]. Our starting lineup has been playing an incredible amount of minutes, and this game, it’s kind of funny how God works sometimes, it forced those guys into playing more minutes. By being able to be out there and stay out there and have some sustained minutes, they gain some confidence. The silver lining will be, as we move into conference tournament play and postseason play, having these guys have a game like this, which will boost their confidence and will be important.

(On team’s depth and not relying on career nights from players):

“I think we’ve been a team all year long that doesn’t rely on one guy to have an unbelievable night. Because you know what? Reyne Smith had 37 before. Terrence had 35 tonight. Chucky had 37 the other day. J’Vonne Hadley’s had a 30-point game. So that’s what makes us good, in my opinion. You look at our overall statistics, it’s like, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13. We are the furthest thing from a one-trick pony, and I think that’s one of the big identities of the team, our depth and our ability to hurt you at a lot of different positions and for a bunch of different people to have big nights on different nights.

(On James Scott facilitating for the offense):

“James is like a point-center. I feel totally confident, and it puts a smile on my face saying it, because he’s a play-through guy. When the ball is in his hands, I’m really comfortable. He just understands the nuances of getting guys open. He’s become a phenomenal screener. He studies the game so much and he studies our opponents, and he’ll come to me with ideas. In the first half, and really a lot in the second half, they were playing way off of him, like they were putting their guy in the restricted area. He’s smart enough to know, ‘when I’m not being guarded, they can’t help on my screens,’ so we have a screening action going around him, he’ll drop the ball and get a guy a shot. He just does all those little things, and he’s just become a phenomenal passer as well. Tough as nails, as we know, he still has his teeth out. He has broken bones, he has the mask, and then the big dude from Cal drills him in the face, breaks his mask, cuts his face, and he runs out and gets a mouthpiece and runs back in the game. I love toughness, man. We identify that like we identify shooting. If you’re not tough, you can’t play for me. You just can’t. To see everybody have those nose guards, they all have those cuts on their nose, Chucky’s got one tonight, James got one tonight, Noah chipped his tooth. We've got all kinds of crap going on. I love it, it’s freaking awesome.”

Guard/Forward Terrence Edwards Jr. and Guard J'Vonne Hadley

(On scoring a career-high 35 points)

Terrence Edwards, Jr: “Just give a shoutout to my teammates for putting me in the position and executing the plays that were called. I was able to get a little open space and knock some shots down.”

(What is it about this team that there is always somebody there to pick up the weight? Is it the culture or that you guys have so many veteran players?)

Terrance Edwards Jr. : “Like I said it’s the power of the unit. We got a lot of great guys that are still healthy, like J’Vonne (Hadley). He does all of our dirty work and when it's his night, he just makes us better as a team. You never know who is going to go off. Our team is so good that we just feed the hot hand. Whoever’s night it is, no matter who it is, we are going to feed the hot hand. The power of the unit, the brotherhood, that we just love each other. We love playing with each other and we love seeing each other shine.”

J’Vonne Hadley: “Just to piggybank of what Fatt (Edwards Jr.) said, it’s the next man up mentality. Reyne (Smith) goes down tonight unfortunately. Obviously, he’s the best shooter in the country and we would have loved to have him out there. Noah Waterman steps up, plays huge minutes. Aboubacar Traore comes in, big minutes. Khani (Rooths), Frank (Anselem-Ebe), all those guys just came in and gave us great minutes tonight.”

(At what point did you feel like you had the hot hand?)

Terrance Edwards Jr.: “Probably early in the first half. When coach drew up a play for me, I just came off smooth and I kind of felt like it was going to be a good shooting night for me. I was able to get to the line a couple of times to keep that flow going. My teammates were just finding me. I had a lot of open looks that I had no choice but to shoot. Like he said Reyne Smith was out tonight. I usually don’t shoot that many three-pointers, but tonight was my night because Reyne (Smith) was out.”

(On what was working with Louisville’s defense tonight)

J’Vonne Hadley: “I would just say our length and athleticism. We have the ability to switch everything. We have the ability to go into coverages. We have a smart group, a veteran group that based off of whether they are left-handed, right-handed… we spend a lot of time in the film room. We’re a little bit banged up, we can’t spend as much time on the court, so we make up for that in the film room. It’s big to know the scouting report and that’s gone a long way in our defense.”

(On having confidence that other players can help alleviate pressure to score)

J’Vonne Hadley: “I just kind of go out there and do my role honestly. If it’s my night, it’s my night, but it can be anybody. Terrence([Edwards) had his career high tonight. Reyne (Smith) has had a career high, Chucky (Hepburn), myself - it could be anybody’s night. I think one thing this team does a really good job of is finding the hot hand. When somebody’s hitting a lot of shots, nobody’s selfish on our team to not find them when they’re open. We do a really good job of making sure that when somebody’s hot they’re getting the ball.”

(On the game plan against Cal’s inside game)

J’Vonne Hadley: “That was the key point coming into this game. Their big centers are a force to be reckoned with down there. We had to have two or three guys come and box them out at times. I’m very familiar with them being in the Pac-12, so I had a couple of words with the team telling them they’re not going to give up. They’re a strong, physical team always, ever since I played them in the Pac-12. I let my teammates know that we had to be physical and match their energy and just do what we do.”

(On James Scott’s growth as a passer through the course of the season)

J’Vonne Hadley: “We have such a versatile offense, like I said it could be anybody’s night, but James does a really good job of studying the game. He watches a lot of basketball, he’s always in the film room asking questions, working on his game, he’s always in the gym. The game’s just slowing down for him. He’s getting comfortable, he’s making a lot of reads that in the past, a lot of freshmen don’t usually make, you can see the growth there. It helps having a group of veterans around him, coaching him and just being there for him if he has any questions.”

(How much does it help knowing anyone on the team can get hot on offense, especially heading into tournament play?)

Terrence Edwards Jr.: “Oh yeah, for sure. I just think it's just a matter of time, where you think everybody is going to be hot at the same time and, the right game. But we don't think of it like that. We just go out and try to have our best defensive performance every game. Everybody is just defensive-minded. Nobody's thinking about offense when we start the game. We think about getting stops and not letting the team score in the first four minutes. So that's our head space when we’re going into a game. And I think this was making our team so good, because nobody cares about points, when they come, you shoot, you miss, get back, and it's all about defense.”

(Coach Kelsey emphasizes next game only, but as March is approaching is it hard to not look and think about the NCAA tournament?)

J’Vonne Hadley: “I don't know. Everybody's kind of excited for March Madness, but at the same time, Coach has done a really good job, whether it's practice or film sessions, to focus on the next thing. And, we have a really good Stanford team coming i on a senior night, and we're just going look to play our best game. But yeah, a lot of us have been to March Madness, we're excited for that, to get the opportunity to go back there. But we're also really excited to go out there for senior night on Saturday and play a really good Stanford team in the Yum! Center, I bet it will be filled out again. So, we're excited for that.

(Photo of Pat Kelsey: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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