What Kenny Payne, Louisville Players Said After 70-69 Loss vs. Syracuse

Read what the head coach of the Cardinals, guard El Ellis and forward Mike James said after their loss vs. the Orange:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite leading for most of the second half, the Louisville men's basketball eventually fell behind to Syracuse, surrendering a 70-69 decision to remain winless in ACC play.

Here's what head coach Kenny Payne, guard El Ellis and forward Mike James had to say following the loss:

Head Coach Kenny Payne

 (Opening Statement)

“First of all, I thought Syracuse was a very good team. They have a kid that shoots the lights out and makes shots at critical times. I thought the point guard puts pressure on the rim and the big fellow caused us to slip and not pay attention and he dunked it in a couple of times. Good team. There was more than a win for them than that being on us. There were unforced turnovers. There was a lack of hitting somebody first to get a rebound at a critical juncture. I mean, I don’t know how you win a game, how is it a one-point game when we had 21 turnovers and they had 25 points off those 21 turnovers. That goes to show that we gave it away. We gave it away. My heart goes out to my team because they deserved to win. They are getting better. They are fighting. They are trying. But at the end of the day, nobody is going to give it to you. We are going to have to take it. We are going to have to change the perception of who you are and what you are. You have to be realistic and we have to look at ourselves and see what are people saying about Louisville. Then we have to go and change it. If that means we get technical fouls because we hit somebody across the face then we should get technical fouls because we hit somebody across the face. We are not going to accept people looking at us turning the ball over and looking at us and thinking we can offensive rebound against them because they are soft. That is not acceptable. 

(About the last play and the scramble)

“It is hard to say, hard to tell because a lot was going on. I don’t know if the ref thought he saw something or did see something. The staff thought it could have been a foul. I haven’t seen the tape yet to really look at it. I thought we were fortunate enough to be able to get the steal. I thought it was an opportunity where we could have prolonged the game. But it is what it is.

(About an improvement in UofL’s passing)

“I liked the way the 17 assists but not when you turn the ball over 21 times. Could that have been 15 more points? Eight more assists? We are getting better. I will continue to say it, we are getting better but mentally there are times when we have moments where we are like floating. Mentally, we float. I dribble up. I know I have to make a pass but instead of faking the pass, I telegraph the pass and they take it from me. But again, we are getting better at taking care of the ball.

(On Kamari Lands starting instead of Jae’Lyn Withers)

“The reason why we did it was to give Jae’Lyn a different look. I view this as we have multiple guys that can start and Jae’Lyn needed something different. Jae’Lyn is a major piece to this puzzle, I need him to play well – not sometimes, all the time. There are times when he doesn’t see himself the way I want him to see himself or the way that I see him. And you’ve got to sit and watch it and then come in and see if maybe it helps you. I thought today he was better, but still has got a long way to go.”

(Mike James had his best game of the season – he was more aggressive, did you tell him to attack more?)

“I want Mike James to trust himself. I want Mike James to be an aggressor – a confident, aggressive player. I liked that, but there were times when he was unsure of when to pass and he got turnovers. They were tentative plays - I don’t like that. Mike is getting better and this is great for Mike. Mike probably has never handled the ball as much as he is handling the ball now and that’s a part of his development. He’s probably never shot as many jump shots as he’s shot now. This is a part of his development. I love what the kid is, I love him as a player. I want more, I’m proud of the way he hustled and fought, and he did a lot of good things tonight. But we lost the game by one point. How many mistakes did each guy make during the flow of the game from the beginning to the end that could have affected winning?”

(There was a stretch in the first half that you scored 13 straight, Syracuse called a timeout and came back to score 12 in a row. Is that indicative of where you guys are – you give away what you get?)

“I look at it like this, we do some good things, we’re the aggressor, we go on a run. They call a timeout, they get themselves together, they come out, they put us on our heels, we get tentative. How many turnovers happened in that stretch? Again, were they forced turnovers, or were they our lack of ‘I’ve got to make sure I make this pass. I’ve got to make sure he delivers the pass. I’ve got to make sure, I’ve got to make sure… turnover.’ You’ve just got to play. You’ve got to trust yourself, you’ve got to trust your instincts. I’m giving you the game plan, I’m telling you every pass you make, I want you to fake a pass, make a pass. I don’t want you to telegraph what you’re doing because Syracuse is pretty good in their zone and if you telegraph passes, they’re probably going to steal them.”

Guard El Ellis and forward Mike James

(About the last play as SU turned it over, and then it looked like maybe somebody tipped it away from you during last sequence)

El Ellis “Yeah, as soon as I was going to hit Mike James on the wing, he grabbed my arm and I fell, that’s it. I mean, I’ve been making the right play all night, I wasn’t going to shoot that with three people in my eye. If the ref didn’t call it, he didn’t call it, and I didn’t give us nothing.”

The guy behind you, (Jesse) Edwards, the big guy grabbed your arm?

El Ellis “Yeah.”

(About having some success out of Syracuse’s zone tonight. What did you all see out of that and what was the game plan going into that, and do you feel like this team executed it)

Mike James: “The game plan was to get the ball to the middle. Once you get the ball in the middle, you can face up and kind of see guys sliding into open areas being ready to shoot, and he told us to shoot the ball confidently and I felt like as a team we did. I feel like we made the right passes and the right decisions out of the middle, and we were aggressive, and we shot the ball very well. In their zone, that’s what you really need to do.”

(About the struggle of late and to have this one right there, have a chance to get it and not get it, how does it sit)

El Ellis: “It’s just frustrating. Most of the games we lost by one point this season, and it’s not even the last play at the end or the play before that, it’s stuff at the beginning of the game. Offensive rebounds, fouling. We’re a young team, I know, we keep saying that, but like we’re getting better. I feel like everybody can see that. We’re going to continue to fight. ACC play, we have another game on Saturday, we’re going to get ready for that one.”

(About Mike James’ outing and connecting from deep for the most productive game of the year so far)

Mike James: “I just knew I had opportunities to shoot the ball, open threes in their zone, so I just came into the game mentally ready. When the ball hits my hands, being ready to shoot and being aggressive. I had a couple plays where I brought more energy on the court, and it translated into transition buckets for me. I just have to keep it up in ACC play and try to do this every game.”

(About Kamari (Lands) being in the starting lineup today and was the lineup quicker, more mobile, have a better flow today?)

Mike James: “I just think as a team, we played better. We had a lot more continuity and I think we moved the ball really well as a team. I don’t think the lineup change affected that. I think when Jae’Lyn (Withers) came in, he did the same thing as well. He was aggressive, he got a couple points in the middle of the zone, he moved the ball well. I think we all moved the ball well and did better as a team.”

(In the game, you lose by one point and had 21 turnovers. How frustrating is that when you look at that stat sheet?)

El Ellis: “Very frustrating because they scored off most of the turnovers we had. That’s killing us, the turnovers. We were solid at the beginning of the game, and just had those mental lapses at the end. Pretty much, we just have to be better.”

(Photo of J.J. Traynor, Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter