What Kenny Payne, Mike James Said After Louisville's 76-62 Loss at Notre Dame

Read what the head coach of the Cardinals and their starting guard/forward said after their win/loss at the Fighting Irish:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Louisville men's basketball program dug themselves into a 30-point hole against Notre Dame in which they could not dig themselves out of, inevitably falling 76-62 to remain winless in ACC play and extend their losing streak to 10.

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

Head Coach Kenny Payne

(Opening statement)

First of all, I thought Notre Dame did a good job of being what they are: a good offensive team. They put us on our heels, they move the ball. All the things that I tried to explain, and the staff tried to explain, that would happen if you wasn't disruptive defensively. We played with a lot of lack of energy, which is disappointing. We played with a lack of pride for what Louisville is. I'm very upset about that. I want more. I want guys to not feel like it's okay to let guys just constantly beat you one-on-one and constantly drive you to spots, constantly move the ball and have no respect for you. When you step on the court, it's bigger than basketball. It's not the YMCA league, or a summer league, or something like this. You're playing, and people are watching you. What is the evaluation of what you're giving them, what they're seeing from you? Nothing against Notre Dame, they're a really good team. Really good offensively, solid defensively. When you look at them play, and you look at the games that they played, they've been in most of the games. We knew we had to respect him, but we had to earn that respect from them.

(On the decision to go ahead and play Emmanuel Okorafor, and what he gave today)

I love what he gave us. I could care less about the moving screens or the illegal screens. I loved that (energy). We haven't been able to really get that from any other big to this point. I love how he sets the screens and runs to the rim. I love the fact that he caught some passes that weren't great passes and finished. I love the fact that he's vocal. For a first game and a kid that, a week ago, had no idea what plays we were running, for him to come in and help us, and play with the energy and be a positive out there on the court, it meant a lot. You could feel his presence right away, you could feel his energy right away. He stands out because he brings a certain kind of physicality, and a certain kind of energy that we lack. He brings it, and we really need

(On playing Fabio Basili and Devin Ree more, and if they showed enough to warrant more playing time)

I thought they were solid, I thought they were good. It's not about showing me in a game, it's about showing me in practice. That you know the plays, that you can go out there and fight. I think one thing that helped them understand better, was sitting there watching it and realizing that, yeah, we practice hard every day and this is what coach has been talking about, and they didn't see the energy that it took to be disruptive defensively. But to to win the second half by eight, I thought they did a good job. If they continue, I'm not obligated to any player. I need to play to players that bring energy, that bring fight, that know what we're doing. If they consistently do that, I'll play them.

(On how close he is to seeing the energy he wants from Basili and Ree)

It's not energy alone. It's knowing exactly the focus that I need you to have to know exactly- for example, Fabio. He has to know the plays. He has to know like exactly what we're running, when we're running, where each player on the court is. They can't just be just out there playing. That's not going to work, it's just not. He's confident. He works hard. But he has to have a certain knowledge of what we're doing with concepts and structure of what's going on on the court. Today was a step for him.

(On if he's concerned at all that his guys might have quit)

I'm not the guy to keep elephants in the room. For me, if I smell it if, I think it, if I hear about it, I'm bringing it up. After the game, I asked them, 'Is this too much? Do you feel like you've let go?' To a man, they all said no. But I said, 'then you're misinformed on what what your body's saying vs. what your words are saying.' There are times when we have players that you look at them with the eye, and you see that they look like they've given up. But in their mind, they don't believe they look like that. Well, that's a problem. And we address that problem. So, am I saying that they've given up? No, I don't believe they given up. I just think this is hard. I think that for some of these guys, this is new. Instead of just playing basketball, we are trying to get you to play winning basketball. If you don't have the capacity to fight through it, mentally focus, and anticipate what's going on, and understand game plans, and understand the plays and know the plays, and know the discipline just to set up a simple ball screen and what you do after you set the screen. Do you pop, do you roll them? When you roll, are you defensive slide rolling or are you sprinting to the rim? And what that means when you do that. There's a lot to this, and we have guys that are still struggling to grasp it. I love them, though. I love them and I want them to get it, and I'm not letting go. If they have a tendency, or if there's a thought of giving up, then this will become torture. Because we're going to practice a certain way, and I'm gonna demand that you play a certain way.

(On if he's to the point where he wants to just find someone with any energy)

Yes, then that's exactly what we did. I needed guys on the floor to bring energy. I can't just leave you out there, and you don't have the energy, you don't have the pop or you're not talking. The guys driving at you, and the opponent is laughing and smiling. There was a stretch in the second half and I look at their team, they're not sweating. How is that possible? It looks easy to them. That's a problem for me. I need them to know that they're in a battle. I need them to know that nothing is going to be easy. We talked about it for three days, whenever we played our last game to now. We talked what it means to play a team like this, a team that's really good offensively, and how your energy and your desperateness on defense has to carry. And then you just have to take care of the ball. We lost by 14 and they got 16 points off our turnovers. They have three turnovers, but a lot of those were at the very end while they were just scrambling.

(On Sydney Curry's regression as of late, especially on defense)

Me and Syd have a contract, and that contract is: if you get your mind and your body right, you're able to have success on the floor. We put Syd on a diet, I need him in the 260s. We haven't quite got near that yet, which would allow him to play freer, allow him to move better, allow him to be up on the ball screens, allow him to be able to sprint the floor and get in the post. Good post players on teams, sometimes all the team is doing is just running down, they go ahead and wait until he gets there then throw him the ball. Well, we can't do that if he's not running. We can't do that if he's not getting up the court. We can't play our defensive schemes if he's in the lane and five man is out. I need him in better shape, I need him to play with more energy. I love the kid, I want him to get it. I'm not accepting less. I'm hoping that Emmanuel sends a message to him and Rose. I'll play him, and give him a minutes, just by doing the things I'm asking him to do.

(On how tough the losing is on him)

It's very hard. You have to have faith. You have to know that you can get through anything that's put in front of you. To be honest with you, as a coach, there are days that I feel like I'm dragging. More days than not. I will say that, 75 percent of this is me pushing, fighting, scratching and clawing to get them to be competitive. To get them to play, and work hard in practice, and play a certain way, and play with energy, and fight with energy. That can wear you out at times. But I'm not giving up, and I let them know. I'm really honest, that I can care less about anything else other than you're doing this the right way. Every day that you're in this program, I'm going to coach you a certain way. It's non negotiable, it's not going to be a choice about what I need from you. The energy and the fight, I gotta have. You got to be man enough to give it to me, or you sit.

Guard/Forward Mike James

(Photo of Kenny Payne, Danny Manning: Matt Cashore - USA TODAY Sports)

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