What Kenny Payne, Louisville Players Said After 80-72 Loss vs. Wake Forest

(Opening statement)

First of all, coming into this game, we knew we were playing a team that is a very good offensive team – big, strong with a dynamic point guard. If we didn’t guard the three-point line and keep them out of the paint, we knew they would carve us up. We knew that coming in, or we talked about it. I thought they did what they normally do, shot the ball well. I thought the game had two halves. The first half we were on our heels. In the second half, we had 15 offensive rebounds for us and 16 points. We shot 52 percent in the second half. We outscored them 46- 37. Moral victories? I don’t want them. I want us to play better the whole game. I just told the guys, ‘Don’t find new ways to lose’ – fight.’ I don’t care if they may have more talent than us. Fight. Fight every second you are out on the floor. I don’t want to play games, guys. I am just going to be honest with you, I have different guys missing from the game. I want every player to hit that floor and fight. I don’t want to look at a game and see Brandon Hatfield-Huntley with two points, not acceptable. That is not why I brought him here. That is not what he wanted. He’s got to give it to me. I should have not have to go through what I am going through with Jae’Lyn (Withers). He’s got to fight. I am not throwing Jae’Lyn under the bus but I am saying that to say this: I need those two to understand that there is an obligation to this program that started long before they got here. Their job is to keep it going forward. No matter what happened in the past, that is over. We are starting over. Now, I see it in stages but I just don’t see it consistently.“

(About praising them in their improvement)

“Of course I praise them for everything they do that is positive. But I also look at a game and I see multiple turnovers time and time again. How is that possible? Some of those turnovers you can’t even make up, like just lackadaisical turnovers because they are not concentrating. It is frustrating. It’s is frustrating and I know it is frustrating for them and I am going to say this again, in no way am I disappointed in any kid. My job is to help them get better. I see them getting better, but I need them to understand what winning in. I need to notice that. No excuses.”

(About the press helping the comeback)

“We went into the game talking about how we want our offense to start with our defense. Let me say that again. We want our offense to start with our defense. We didn’t do that the first half. So what happens is, we ended up doing a press and they relaxed and then we would get them on their heels and we would get momentum doing that. We could have done that in the first half, we shouldn’t have to press to be able to get deflections on the ball. We shouldn’t have to. It should be the same principles in man half court than they are in a press full court.”

(About Mike James putting together two strong games in a row)

“Mike is getting better. I see him getting more and more comfortable. There are still plays out there where I want more. I need him more in tune. Mike James is a freshman. I love what he is doing. I love what he is. I love his character. I love his fight. I love the way he attacks the basket. I need him to be better. I see him coming. I am asking him and Kamari (Lands) to make the adjustment. Make the adjustment and change and become a better player.

(About JJ Traynor finding his way)

“I just told JJ that I loved what I saw in spurts but I hate what I saw in spurts to be honest. JJ is a good basketball player but I need him to play with a fire. I need a fire. If you need to go to acting school where you need to act like you are on fire. There should be a difference between the person on the court than you are off the court. I need him to fight. I need his fire. I need him to represent his family. I need him to represent his university and have the spirit of a warrior.”

(About Brandon Huntley-Hatfield only taking two shots today, what is the causes where players have games where they don’t do much?)

“For me, watching the game and seeing what it is, it looks like they don’t anticipate what’s happening next so there’re always a step behind. It’s not just Brandon, there are other players too. I’m constantly talking about seeing the play before it happens, seeing what could possibly happen and anticipating what happens, and then you’re ahead of the game. If you’re waiting for something to happen, for example, if you’re jogging up and you turn around slowly and the ball’s right there, you should already be turned around facing the ball. If you see the ball being shot or getting ready to be shot and you’re just in La-La Land, go find a man on the attempt. Before the attempt happens, go find a man, hit him, and go get the ball with two hands. I don’t want to see Brandon go after rebounds with one hand. We saw what happened – he doesn’t come up with it, they get it, and they get a shot off. Just anticipating what could happen, seeing it before it happens, and being the aggressor.

(The 1983 team was in yesterday for practice and you’ve talked a lot with your team about the tradition here and the standard that players in the past have set. What do you hope they got out of hearing from those guys yesterday)

“For me, I go back to this. It’s a tribute to Denny because Coach Crum, what he did, he was ahead of his time. When I watch that ’83 team, I see a great passing team. I see dudes that played together. I see guys that were one unit. The ball moved and there was nobody that was playing for themselves. Everybody touched the ball, everybody was versatile, everybody could post up, everybody could shoot. I saw basketball players, and they were playing for each other to win a game. I want our guys to take their spirit – the spirit of fighting and the pride for what’s on your chest. Louisville is a proud tradition, and I don’t want to say that we’ve lost that, but something’s off and we’ve got to get it back. We’ve got to get it back.”

(El went out of the game and came back and the same thing happened at Kentucky. He plays a lot of minutes and does a lot of things. Is there a lot of wear and tear on him and is he okay coming out of this game?)

“I asked him when I came back if he was okay, and he said yes. For me, I’m frustrated with Hercy [Miller] and Fabio [Basili] as well. I put Fabio in for one minute, and I didn’t get solid play. How is that possible? You’re a good basketball player. You’ve got to be solid. I’m not asking you to go out and give me ten points, ten rebounds, and ten assists. I’m asking you to just keep us solid. That’s the challenge for me. I need guys to be on the court that cannot hurt us. Just be solid. Again, they’re not robots. They’re humans and they’re going to make mistakes. I just need them to be solid.”

(El had eight assists and two turnovers today. Is he grasping more of what you want from him with getting other players involved)

“I think so. I think there are plays where you see that he’s doing what we’re asking. He’s letting the game come to him and he’s not forcing it. He still has areas where he could get better at that, but I see him making a conscious effort. I think he’s gotten better as a basketball player. I think he’s showing that he can distribute and facilitate a game. I think he’s showing that he has a grasp of the offense and what we’re trying to do. I like that, and I’d like to see that continue. But there’s another piece to this – I need El Ellis to drag guys with him. I need him to be a positive spirit on the floor telling Jae’Lyn, ‘Come on, you can do this,’ telling Brandon, ‘Come on, you can do this.’ Not just so into himself – not that he just is, he wants to win – but I want him to talk more to those guys and help them get along. He’s a leader, he’s a captain on this team for a reason.”

Forward J.J. Traynor and forward Mike James