What Kenny Payne, Louisville Players Said After 80-73 Exhibition Win vs. Chaminade

Read what the head coach of the Cardinals, guard El Ellis and forward Jae'Lyn Withers said after their exhibition win over the Silverswords:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing in their final exhibition of the preseason, the Louisville men's basketball program was able to avenge their exhibition loss to Lenoir-Rhyne earlier in the week, rallying past and holding off Chaminade.

Here's what head coach Kenny Payne, guard El Ellis and forward Jae'Lyn Withers had to say following the win:

Head Coach Kenny Payne

(Opening Statement)

“The first thing I want to say about today’s game is that I am proud of our guys. There was improvement from the first exhibition to this game. We scored 80 points or so, but we played better. There were some areas of concern like toughness around the basket and rebounding the ball. Another area of concern is that while I am okay if we get a shot clock violation if the ball gets in the paint a few times. I want us to be a good passing team. There were segments of the game when the ball was moving and we got any shot we wanted. We got layups. We got kick-out threes and were good offensively. As the game went on, and became tighter and closer, you saw the guys drive and not looking for their teammates. They may have gotten fouled but they may have not gotten fouled and there was a guy in the corner open. I need you to have the discipline to know you still have multiple choices. I need you to know when we are in the bonus or the double bonus that you have to win the game from the free throw line which is what El (Ellis) basically did for us tonight. I want us to be a better defensive team. We still have growth to go there. I want us to really understand that it is hard for them to understand because this is all new for all of us, you don’t have to play great. But if he decides to not be physical and he decides not to sit in the stance and another player decides to not to be alert off the ball, then we are going to get burned. In order for us to be a good defensive team, we have to be of one accord. We have to be on a string with each other. We have to make the passes hard, the shots hard and be contested. We have to help each other using our voices. There were points where we did it. There were a lot of parts, most of the game where we did. We have to get better in those areas. But overall, I am happy there is growth. I am happy for those kids that they walked out of here with a win and that is important to them.

(About Jae’Lyn Withers’ defense)

“I love those kind of plays. I wish we had more of them. There is a thing that we chart called ‘kills’ which is three stops in a row. When you get seven or eight kills, which is three stops in a row, you are a pretty good defensive team. I don’t know where we ended tonight, but I definitely know it wasn’t seven or eight. Those possessions shows a capability and that we are capable of being that kind of team. A long, athletic, wiry team that can move and create havoc on the offense and end up with a blocked shot and get out on transition. We need more of that.”

(About JJ Traynor’s energy plays on the offensive glass)

“Initially, I was upset because he started out tentatively. I need JJ to be energetic and confident. That is all I am asking of him – to be energetic and confident. As the game went on, toward the end, you saw it. You saw what he is capable of. You saw him make plays that he probably never made. I am looking at him going from a tentative to be more aggressive and confident. Then the whole team just jumped on this back and said, ‘Man, great energy, great job’. Just now in the locker room, and the way he looked – that is what this game is about which is overcoming self-doubt, overcoming confidence issues, and going out and helping your team win. I want him to live his life that way. The way he ended this game, I wanted him to walk around campus and practice and go eat lunch and dinner just being confident instead of always hanging his head down. I need him to feel good about himself.”

(About El Ellis playing 38 minutes and getting to the line 15 times)

“In spots, I thought he was great. I thought there were points in the game where he got away from what we need. He tried to score. I don’t need you to try to score. The ball is in your hands too much for you not to pass it. You control a lot of things we do on the court. I want more defensive intensity and to take pride in that. I don’t want to see a guy get 27 points. I don’t want to have to say, ‘guys, we are going to trap him in the last three or four minutes of the game’. I want El to say ‘Coach, I got him’ and be solid on him and keep him in front and not let him get a basket. Again, I will say this. This is new to El, so his actions and his emotions affect all of us. If he decides to get high emotionally, like too charged up, or get low – that affects us. He has to be even-keeled and play hard, confident and play smart. That position demands that he be smart, because if he doesn’t play smart, then he affects other people on the court.

(You all gave up 18 offensive rebounds tonight. Is that an effort thing or just guys being out of position?)

“I would definitely 100 percent say it was effort. I want to see guys, I literally told them, I want you to take your elbow and when that ball is in the air, put it in his chest, get him away from the basket, and go rebound the ball above the rim. I don't want to see you standing beside a guy and the ball comes up and you're waiting for the ball to fall in your hands and the other guy is more aggressive to you. Basically, what I'm saying is you’re either the predator or the prey. You're one or the other. You're not going to float through. It's not just going to fall in your hands. You have to be the aggressor. Predator or prey.”

(About Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, Jae’Lyn Withers, or Sydney Curry lacking energy and motor. JJ Traynor brought that especially in the second half. Is there any way you can get those guys to rev up that motor up?)

“We work on it every day. We'll continue to work on it. I'm going to demand it. I've been demanding it, and I’ll demand it more. There will come a point where there will be punishments for things that you do on the court that aren't aggressive. There will be consequences for things that you do that we practice that can't get done. And again, I need those guys to believe that they can take on any bigs in the country, all three, and dominate. I need them to believe that. I don't need them to get in a game and say okay, I'll turn on the light switch. There are no light switches. You are the light switch. It has to be on the second your feet hit that floor, whether that's a practice, whether that's a workout, whether that's a game. No difference. I need that from them. And you're right, they weren't aggressive, and they will tell you that. Predator or prey.”

(You talked about being a better-conditioned team and being able to outlast other teams down the stretch. First, did you see some of that tonight and second, where is Syd in terms of his conditioning?)

“I would like to see him be in better condition. I would like for him to be able to move better. But there was a play where Syd blocked a shot, and that was the first time I've seen that kind of effort, energy, and attacking something, to do something force and with energy. I need him to do that all the time. I need to see that guy where a month ago we made 25 clips of him last year, his best stuff that he did last year and the energy and emotions and the fight that he had. I need to see that. I want to see Syd run the middle of the lane and demand the ball, catch it, and dominate people in the post. I don't care if it's a seven-footer or a 6’6” guy. I need to see him do it, and most of that is conditioning. We're going to continue to work on it. Like I just told him, I'm not giving up until February. I'm going to demand this all the way up to the end. I'll see where we are when we get to the end. For me, when I say the end, in January or February, you pretty much know who you're going to be regardless of the (losses) and the (wins). By that time of the year, we got to keep developing. We got to keep fighting until we've identified what this team is, and that would be January and February in my mind.”

(About the Red/White Scrimmage and then the two exhibitions being three chances to get to see the team. how much improvement has there been)

“I just got to see us get better. I can't put a number on it. Are we ready for Bellarmine? I don't know. I know they'll be disciplined. I know they’ll be sharp in what they're doing. I know they're going to throw a lot of different things. Scott Davenport is a really good coach and he's had a lot of success. We're going tio have to be ready, we can't overlook them. They should have been in the NCAA tournament last year, so I know what we're facing. And it is evident that by Everick’s team (Lenoir-Rhyne) and (Chaminade) that we’ve got work to do. I'm not concerned with wins and losses. I want to win so bad, but I got to be able to get these guys to get better. To become better as a team. And if that means we take losses, we’ll take losses. Just get better.”

(As far as points in the paint, today it was 38-30; you were outscored in the paint. What does the team need to do defensively to kind of keep teams out of the lane)

“We have to protect the lane. We do a drill everyday called diamond where it’s four-on-four. If the ball gets in the lane, you don’t get the basket. You don’t get the point. Defensively, you don’t get the point. This is a three point shooting team that is playing. They’re going to shoot 30 something threes come hell or highwater. If we’re going to take the threes away, we’re going to give up something else. They did a good job of getting points in the paint. Would I have liked it to be 38? No. I would probably like for it to be 10 or 12, but I can't expect guys that are learning to pick up everything. We’re not the finished product yet.”

Questions on today's IARP decision:

(About the statement that Coach Payne has been focused on this team. This team could have been impacted obviously, in terms of a postseason ban. What level of relief or what is your response to the idea that they don't have to worry about that whether or not they get in)

“For me, a couple of things. One is, in my mind, the ruling basically starts the program in the rebuild. I called every parent today, put them on a group call. I explained to the parents that weren’t here last year, what the other kids and families went through. I explained to them how hard and how sorry I am that they had to go through that. For those new families that have just come into this, so that they fully understand the hurt, the pain, the community had, the university had, the players went through. This has been hard on everybody. So, I wanted them to know that I understand and that we are starting a rebuild. We're starting new. From this day on, I don't have to worry about families second guessing if I'm telling the truth that we’ll be alright as a program. It’s out there now. We're going to be alright. Now it’s about moving forward. I'm happy, I’m elated for everybody involved. I'm elated for Coach Pitino. I'm happy for this university because today we've taken a hit. We've taken a hit. Now we got to clean it up and make sure that people look at us the way they should.”

(How often on the recruiting trail were you dealing with other teams using that uncertainty against you guys? Do you think that this decision ends that)

“It definitely ends it. Two things, I was talking to a family once. The kid and their parent were in the room and I asked them has anybody said anything negative. The mom and dad said “Coach, nobody would ever say…” and I said “hold on, young man?” “Oh yeah, they were hurting you.” So now we know we don't have to worry about anything. It's the nature of the business. Some people call that recruiting. I wouldn't recruit that way. I wouldn't deal with families that way. But it is what it is. Now all of that is over. We can start from this day forward, building the program that we needed to be with the type of kids we need here – built on character, talent, and kids that have dreams of being great. So I'm excited about today being a first day for me of that.”

Guard El Ellis and Forward Jae'Lyn Withers

(On whether they felt they were the better conditioned team tonight)

El Ellis: “Yeah, I did. Especially like late in the half, late in the second half, we were on the boards very strong. And obviously like, guys weren’t tired. I was looking to my left and my right and I see guys, they were up, they were good, they had energy. So, I feel like what we did in the preseason and the summer was big.”

(Specifically, did you see that out of JJ (Traynor) in the second half)

El Ellis: “Yeah, most definitely. Most definitely.”

(On whether he made a point to get to the free throw line tonight)

El Ellis: “Really it was, you know, being in foul trouble last week was tough, so just being able to get out of that hole that I was in. I wouldn’t have been able to be aggressive if I hadn’t stayed out of fouling. Being able to play free tonight, be able to facilitate, and just be aggressive, that’s what I do.”

(On what the difference was after the 16-0 run)

Jae’Lyn Withers: “I say that we realized, or we understood, what was needed in order to win the game. That was to be energetic and to make it a dogfight. I mean, we had to rebound a lot better than we did in the first half, so I say that was it.”

(On their thoughts of the IARP ruling)

Jae’Lyn Withers: “It was a huge relief. There’s been a black cloud over the school for a minute now, it was definitely relieving to hear that, especially this morning to start off the day”

El Ellis: “Honestly coming to Louisville, I wasn’t very worried about it at all. I love to hoop, regardless of what was going on. I really didn’t take it to mind, just hearing it this morning was a big relief. We have everything we need to get to the post season in our locker room, so I feel very glad about the decision they made.”

(On whether they heard about a possible postseason ban in recruiting)

Jae’Lyn Withers: “Yeah, I would say that was mentioned during both of our recruiting periods. Like he said, we love to play basketball and either way it goes we wanted to compete and have a pretty good season.”

(On whether they were surprised with the IARP ruling)

El Ellis: “No, I wasn’t surprised at all because what happened a long time ago had nothing to do with our coaches we have here or players that we have on the team now. So I think this is the right decision they made, and we can just move forward, and the university can move forward, and the fans can move forward.

(Photo of Kenny Payne: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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