Head Coach Chris Mack, Guard Josh Nickelberry Talk Boston College
(Photo of Chris Mack: Mary Langenfeld/USA TODAY Sports)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In what was perhaps one of the ugliest games in rivalry history, the Louisville men's basketball program was able to secure a 62-59 victory over intrastate rival Kentucky, breaking a three-game losing streak to the Wildcats.
Next up for Louisville (6-1, 1-0 ACC), they head back on the road to face the Boston College Eagles for their first game of the new year. Tipoff is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 2 at 12:00 p.m. EST on Fox Sports South.
Related: Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs Boston College
Before the Cardinals travel up to Chestnut Hill, Mass., head coach Chris Mack and sophomore guard Josh Nickelberry took time to meet with the media. They discussed their upcoming matchup against Boston College, their offense's recent stagnation, the play around the ACC, provided injury updates to Malik Williams & Charles Minlend and more.
Below is the transcript from their press conference as well as the video:
Head Coach Chris Mack
(On fixing their ability to hit open three-point shots)
That's a tough one. I think we just have to continue to take good open threes. I think we have to be cognizant of the time and score, and the context of the shot. If we just missed two or three wide open threes in a row, or we turned the ball over, is it early in the shot clock. It's not like we've got to make nine or 10 more of them, we just got to hit a couple of them. We have better shooters than I think the last three games have shown, but having said that, they got to go in. We got to worry more about running our offense harder, with more purpose. I think getting cheap baskets, pushing the pace way more than we are, or have been, that's more of a concern than making a few more open ones. But that would certainly help.
(On who has taken a step forward and taken the team on their back)
I don't know if I'd say anybody's taking their team on their back, but I think the players that are guys look to are Carlik (Jones) and David (Johnson). They have the ball in their hands a lot, they're the point of our attack on defense, they got to keep the ball in front of them out on the perimeter, they are two of our more experienced players. So I think that those two guys in particular have probably done more leading than anybody. But again, we're not a finished product. They have to continue to get better in that area, specifically Dave, and I think Carlik even has to be a little bit more vocal than he's been
(On his thoughts of the ACC this season, and if there's a dominant team)
I think it's too early to tell in terms of a dominant team. I mean, there's been - some teams have only played one or two ACC games, including us. There's a lot that remains to be seen. I don't think that there is a dominant team, maybe like there's been in years past, or dominant teams. I mean, a couple years ago there were three No. 1 seeds out of this conference. So I don't think that's what our conference looks like this year, but that doesn't mean that it's not very competitive. I think we've got some young players and some young teams, some teams that may not be, historically, the front runners in the conference, but we've got some teams that have taken steps up as a program. But again, I think it's too early to assess.
(On the league's unpredictably)
I think if you're comparing it to maybe years past - we lost to both (Georgia Tech & Clemson) last year, and I thought both of them were extremely talented. I think Clemson's carved out an identity over the last few years under Coach (Brad) Brownell. I think (GT head coach) Josh Pastner's team, it's got one of the best back courts in our league. Maybe historically, Carolina is a team that beats Georgia Tech, but again, you don't play the games on paper and you don't play them historically. I knew how good those two teams that you just spoke of, were to start the year. To me, it wasn't a huge surprise and really hasn't been a huge surprise.
(On Charles Minlend taking part in pregame shoot-around vs. Kentucky, and if he will play vs. Boston College)
No, I think anybody can sort of do their deal in warmups. It's another thing to be guarding people, and running full speed, and cutting and reacting, having gone through it myself. Charles won't play this weekend. We're hopeful in the next week or two, but there's got to be some confidence in him in terms of movement, and feeling ready to to play again before we're gonna put him out there.
(On the offense's recent stagnant performances)
Our offense isn't, contrary what it may look like sometimes, we don't practice one guy using a ball screen and everybody else watching him do his thing. The sooner we realize that, and transfer what we are trying to teach in practice to the game, then it's going to look like that at times. Then I've got to figure out ways to involve other players with besides playing off (Carlik & David's) penetration.
(On what he sees on film regarding Boston College)
I think they've played one of the best schedules in the country. They've played Villanova, they played Florida, they played Minnesota, I mean they go on the road last night (vs. NC State). There's a lot of teams that could have that record. They're a talented team, their backcourt is phenomenal, both (Wynston) Tabbs and (Jay) Heath can create their own shot at any point in time with consistency, they've got a veteran in Steffon Mitchell who brings the ball up and presents a unique challenge at the front of the court. We have our hands full on Saturday. I don't take any stock in what their record is, because like I said, I'm looking at their talent level. The fact they were down 12 or 14 on the road last night, and then had a one point lead with 20 seconds to go tells you all you need to know about their firepower. We've got to be a different team on both ends of the floor, each and every game and this is a big game for us.
(On Malik Williams' current timetable following foot surgery)
So he had surgery on Nov. 11, which again, here in about 10 days or so, he'll be at two months, which is eight weeks at that point. He'll be able to do a little bit more, they'll continually look at the imaging to see how the fracture of the bone is healing. 12 weeks is usually a minimum, and it'll depend on how Malik feels. We don't want to jeopardize his health. We got to put him in as good a shape as we can get him in when he's not able to you know be on his feet and running. Then when he's at that point, we'll make a determination around the beginning of February on where we'll be.
(On his toilet paper "war" with football head coach Scott Satterfield, and if it'll escalate)
Who knows, who knows. We got him pretty good. You know, Christi and I when we toilet papered his house, it was sort of symbolic. I think that he had several different people helping, from our athletic director to their kids to his kids, I mean there were people all over our lawn that I saw on video the last time I checked it out. So this may be an escalation.
(On if he has a NYE resolution for the team)
Not really. I'm not a big resolution guy. I think resolutions are for quitters, because no one ever keeps to a resolution. So I try to just do my deal each and every day, regardless of whether it's December 31 or February 23, it doesn't really matter to me.
Guard Josh Nickelberry
(On what it has been like recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery)
Really, just on my time off, I was just observing a lot. Just listening to everything Coach Mack says, watching my position, so when I got back out there, I wasn't behind. I know my team needed me, so when I got back out there, I knew I had to be ready to play. Couldn't be slouching, had to be ready. Really, just on my time off, I just paid attention,. Then when I got back out there, I just played my role, and just working my way back in.
(On shooting the three ball with confidence, but with consistency)
Yeah, we've definitely been giving up a lot of shots. I know we're not shooting great right now, but we definitely get up shots, and especially for me. That's one of my main things is being able to shoot the ball. (Coach Mack) just tells me to be more can be confident, just shoot when I'm open, just really keep gaining more confidence. Overall as a team, we're just keep getting confidence shooting the ball, and it'll definitely get better throughout the season.
(On why the team hasn't been playing at the pace they want to)
I can't really pinpoint why our pace hasn't been the greatest, but I just know that Coach Mack is definitely making an emphasis now to just push the ball. Because with the guys we have, we're a very athletic team, our guards are great, so we can definitely push the ball and use that as an advantage further in the season. But I can't really pinpoint why it hasn't been where it needs to be.
(On their stagnant offense and how they can fix it)
Definitely our offense has been stagnant, watching it on film, it's definitely been stagnant. Coach Mack has made and emphasis to just - when guys are off the ball, just cut through, screen for each other, just try to get each other open really, and that'll put pressure on the defense and open up gaps we can attack, and stuff like that. Yesterday in practice, he definitely the emphasis of just cutting through and opening up the floor.
(On if there is a tendency to let Carlik Jones & David Johnson do their thing)
I mean, they're both great players. They both can go make a play, so I mean, sometimes I guess it is kind of easy to watch, but it's something that we definitely need to correct. Them two, as being as good as they are, it's worked so far. But we definitely need to fix it and just make it easier on them, and easier on the team.
(On his biggest challenge returning back from injury)
My biggest challenge has been just getting back into playing shape. Just getting getting more reps in practice, just understanding everything I needed to do. I came back and we had games back-to- back, so I had to learn a lot. That's really just been tough, just learning and implement everything into play. That's probably been the toughest thing, but it's getting easier.
(On the team's chemistry, and how it will get better when Malik Williams & Charles Minlend are back)
I feel like our chemistry is getting a lot better. We are playing very well in practice together. Once Charles gets back, and we get our full team back, we're gonna be very good, because Charles's game fits in perfectly with how we play. He can also shoot the ball. so we need all the assets we can get. Chemistry has definitely been getting a lot better. Coach Mack implementing all these new things and just making it easier for everybody to just play their game. Chemistry is definitely getting better.
(On his thoughts on the ACC this year)
We know in our conference, we can't take any game lightly, no matter what their record is. Every game, we can beat. Any team can be beat any night. So we have to be ready for all of our conference games. We learned that last year dropping a couple games we shouldn't have lost. This year, we definitely have to be ready for every single game, because our conference is definitely is very tough top to bottom. So we just got to be ready.
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