What Kenny Payne, Louisville Players Said After 71-54 Loss vs. Virginia Tech

(Opening statement)

“Hats off to Virginia Tech, we knew they were a good team. We knew they would milk the clock and this is what we had to do, well we thought we knew what we had to do to disrupt what they have been doing offensively. We talked about a game plan. We put together a game plan. We went over it for two or three days. We came out and we had five turnovers and the whole game plan was to disrupt what they were doing offensively and get after people defensively so that they wouldn’t get a rhythm to their offense. Simply put, they had 24 points off second chance points. They had 18 points off turnovers. Who are you going to beat? Who are you going to beat? Seventeen of those 24 second chance points came in the second half. We had numerous guys that did not come to play on Senior Night – the last game of the year. I don’t know what to say to that – disappointed, discouraged, hurt, there are no words that can describe what it feels like to be part of something where you watch guys not come to fight for their teammates or their fan base on the last regular season game of the year. That is disappointing. Again, credit goes to Virginia Tech. They are a good team. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do. I will take credit for that or the blame for that.”

(About what VT did to limit El Ellis in the first half)

“I really can’t say that they did a good job of that, I thought our offense was stagnant. I thought we held the ball too much. I thought we didn’t set our screens. I thought the ball was never moving and never popping. I didn’t think we got out in transitions because we didn’t get stops. I thought when we did turnover, I thought they did a good job of trapping El (Ellis) in ball screens and getting the ball out of his hands. When they do that, you burn them. When you burn them, they get out of it. We didn’t do a good job of burning them or penalizing them for trapping us.”

(About why players aren’t coming to compete and how to figure that out)

“I can say what I just said to the guys in the locker room, every day, regardless of what happens, I wake up in the morning saying I am going to make sure that we come through the day. Every day I am hoping that we figure it out. Every day I am challenging them. I am pushing practice harder. I am making it harder. I see the guys and I know is the right thing to do because they are not liking it. And that encourages that I am doing the right thing because that their body language towards being challenged, their body language toward somebody loving them regardless of their flaws and saying you can figure this out, I believe in you. And I go to work every day with that in mind – that they are going to figure it out. I, just at some point, hope that they get it individually and team-wise and it is not just one person, it is multiple guys. I am still not giving up whenever we practice again, if we are off tomorrow, the following day, I am going to come in there and challenge them and push them. I am going to make practice hard, and I am going to give them everything I have until the season is over.”

(About being down just three at 9 minutes and what happened)

“I think our communication was bad. They are a team that wants to run the clock down. They are real patient. They are real poised. The second you don’t communicate, the second that there is a disconnect, meaning that you are not connected to your offensive player, or you are not in tune to what is going on or what is possibly going to happen – they burn you. The reality of it is they missed shots, they got offensive rebounds and put it in to finish the game, that is what they did. So, we guarded the first initial stuff okay but then we didn’t fight to get the rebounds and get the possession. They got it and they stuck it in the basket.”

(Overall, what about their defense made it tough to score against tonight?)

“I thought they were more physical than us. We didn’t set great screens. Probably because they were bumping us. Probably because we didn’t set our man up well enough before coming off screens. They did a good job. They’re a good team, they’re a solid team. They don’t make a lot of mistakes on either side of the ball. If you’re not alert and in tune to what they’re trying to do and negating what they’re doing, they’re going to beat you. They’re a very solid team and a well-coached team.”

(About Fabio Basili)

“El (Ellis) can’t play 40 minutes. Hercy (Miller) has been out. He’s been hurt. He hadn’t practiced so I gave Fabio (Basili) an opportunity. I thought he did okay. He did some good things out there. He played with good energy. He wasn’t afraid.”

(About preaching patience to the fan base a lot of times this season. What would you say to the disappointed segment of that fan base, especially with a night like tonight to close out the home schedule?)

“What would I say to the fan base? I feel like they (the fan base) feel, expect I have the obligation, the opportunity, to be with them every single day. I’m preaching similar, if not the same, that they’re frustrated over: a lack of energy, a lack of confidence, a lack of fight. I’m preaching that every day. I can sugar coat it for you but it’s not acceptable. I ask these players every day, ‘do you understand what it means to be in that jersey? And what fully do you have to sacrifice to be in that jersey?’. I don’t think a majority of them do, so my job is to educate them on what it is to be in that jersey. That doesn’t mean that it’s always going to be rosy. There’s going to be hard days, but you have to fight to make sure that you know and have faith that you know that you’re going to fix it. I hope our fan base, I know most of them do, I know there are some that’s disappointed. I hope they understand that not one of these kids to this day has been cheating. Not one single day have they been cheating. We’re going to get this program fixed. Probably sooner than later. Most likely sooner than later. The right type of people will be in this program that deserve to be here, that fit the criteria it takes to be a Louisville Cardinal.”

Guard/forward Mike James, forward J.J. Traynor

(How would you describe the effort tonight with the last home game of the season? The energy just kind of wasn’t there for the majority of the game.)

Mike James: “I don’t think it was good enough, for real. Simply put, I don’t think it was good enough.”

JJ Traynor: “I think there were moments we had good communication, good energy. But overall, you know, I feel like when they were hitting some big shots or getting some offensive rebounds, it got to us, and the energy went down.”

(When that happens, was there anybody out there trying to get the team back into things?)

JJ Traynor: “I would say it was mostly the coaches tonight. I’d say El (Ellis) was vocal too, but it can’t be all on them, it has to be all of us. I feel like we just have to bring more communication, and just huddle up when moments get tough and just talk through it.”

(What about their defense made it tough to score against tonight?)

JJ Traynor: “I would say it wasn’t really their defense. I feel like we just weren’t moving the ball enough tonight. They did play good defense though, but our spacing wasn’t the best and we weren’t quick in our actions. I feel like on that little run we had we started getting quick into our actions, and when we’re quick and running into screens, getting out and moving the ball, we’re hard to guard. But if we’re just walking the ball up and being a slow offense, that’s easy to guard.”

Mike James: “I think they played good defense as a team, but I think we kind of missed some shots, some jumpers that we usually hit or that we should be making. In the first half, we came out real slow, I think through eight or ten minutes, we only had seven points. We knock down some of those open shots that we had, we would have had a better offensive night. But when it gets like that, we have to clamp down on defense.”

(Going back to those missed shots, some of them were coming off second and third chances, and doing a good job of getting those rebounds early. When that happens, those things just tend to pile up, doesn’t it?)

JJ Traynor: “I feel like we were getting some in the first half, getting some offensive rebounds, and we’d throw it out and shoot. We were kind of rushing our shots a little bit. Next time, we just have to bring it out, get into something really quick, and get a better shot. Take advantage of those opportunities.”

(You’re only down three with nine minutes to go. What made them tough to stop down the stretch?)

JJ Traynor: “I think we were guarding their actions pretty well and then just offensive rebounding, it let out to a three. Then, the next play down, Justyn Mutts hit a three. I think they were up nine, after that, they got going. We just couldn’t get our defense going.”

(You guys have one regular season game left and then the ACC Tournament. With just four wins this season, obviously it’s not a place you guys have been in your careers. Where do you find the motivation to keep going through these last difficult games?)

Mike James: “If you’ve got love for the game, you won’t stop or quit no matter the circumstance. If you love the game of basketball, you’re going to keep showing up every day no matter how hard it gets, no matter how bad things get. We just got to keep pushing all the way to the end and see how far we go.”

JJ Traynor: “Last time we played Virginia, it was a pretty good game. Knowing that will definitely give us some confidence. We want to go finish that game and get that game back.”