What Kenny Payne, Louisville Players Said After 72-50 Loss vs. Notre Dame

Read what the head coach of the Cardinals and forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield said after their loss to the Fighting Irish.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Returning home to take on Notre Dame, the Louisville men's basketball program fell victim to their defensive woes once again, falling 72-50 for their third straight blowout loss.

Here's what head coach Kenny Payne and forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had to say following the loss:

Head Coach Kenny Payne

(Opening Statement)

“First of all, I want to give credit to Notre Dame for coming in here and playing the way they played. They put us on our heels with their energy, their effort, their focus, their attention to detail, their toughness, all those things were superior to ours. For me, down the stretch of the game, eight minutes to go, eight-point game we hadn't played well. We're fighting, it's time to make a run, and [Braeden Shrewsberry] knocks down two threes in a row. It goes to 14. You could see it in our body language from that point on. We didn't have the necessary fight that we needed to have to combat that run they made, and they go on to a 16-2 run. At the end of the day, we're trying to get these kids to understand how hard they have to fight. How it doesn't matter who you're playing, everybody's a good player. If he's got a jersey on his back, then you have to pay attention to detail, you got to be alert, you got to be focused, and you got to fight with everything in your body. If you don't, you get burned. It's a hard lesson for young players to understand because they've all been told that they are the best. The reality of it is that you earn that. You earn the respect that you get on the basketball floor as an individual and as a team.”

(On what Skyy (Clark) playing through injury says about him as a player)

“I applaud him for wanting to come back and playing with the energy and the effort for the most part that we need from him. It was refreshing to see. Even when he did come back and practice yesterday or the day before, he didn't do contact, so to see him play like that and to see him fight and play with energy and shoot the ball with rhythm at times, it was good to see.”

(On what Notre Dame did to get Braeden Shrewsberry open looks from outside the arc)

“I think we relaxed. I think they run a lot of movement before he comes off a screen. The cliche is you never shoot a gap on a three-point shooter. You always are connected to the three-point shooter. You always identify where he is. So, if there's two players and we're in a scramble situation and there’s a non-shooter and a three-point shooter, you use your voice and say ‘I'm going to help’ but you're really not going to help. You're never going to leave the best shooter on the floor. We did that time and time again. We ran gaps. Hats off to him. He made some tough shots. He made some good shots. He made some wide-open shots, and at times the wide-open shots are the hardest shot for shooters to make. He shot it with instinct, he shot it with confidence, and he burned us for, I think his career-high was 25, he had 23.”

(On the problems caused by Notre Dame doubling Brandon Huntley-Hatfield on the block)

“For the last three days, we worked on a couple of things. One, making reads. Bigs making reads. Bigs making reads after ball screens and popping and driving down hill and reading a play. Is it a pass to the corner, is it a lob, is it a skip pass? We worked on that for three days. It's the same as working on getting trapped in the post. So there were plays Brandon had where he had a decision to make and there were two players there, and he chose to hit Kaleb (Glenn) and it's a turnover, but Tre White is wide open on the perimeter. He has to read it better. He has to process it better. Unfortunate. Hopefully he learns from it. I'm not worried about it because he's going to try. He wants to do better. But it's something that he has to get better at is reading what's going on in the court.”

(On how you make sure guys don’t get flat down the final stretch of the season)

“Well, I can just tell you that myself and all the coaches were telling them, ‘Guys, we got nine minutes to go, we got eight minutes to go, stay fighting. It can turn, it can turn, it can turn.’ But fragile minds and young people sometimes, they are so concerned with ‘I haven’t made a three, I hadn't made a jump shot. The guy made a tough shot.’ For example, a player said, ‘I was there, I contested the shot.’ That's not what winning players say. I contested the shot, and he made it anyway. Winning players, tough players, championship players, the greatest players are going to will a guy to miss the shot. They're going to will the ball to go get it in a rebound, not ‘He hit me first.’ I'm alert to that, I'm going to hit them first. So, we're trying to teach them all these things about what they say they want to be, what they want to be, and how do you get there, and for young players it's hard. What I'm trying to do is tell them it's not basketball, it's life. You don't get that rebound, somebody pays for it. You don't make that stop, your team dies. That's the mentality you got to have. That's what separates the good from the great. Hard lesson, but it's what it is.”

(On the lack of energy and feeling coming into the game)

“Well, to be honest with you, there are a few players that I watch and see what their energies are before the game, during the game, and the beginning parts of the game. When they don't play with the fight and the energy that we need, because they are vital pieces to us, I worry and I confront them about it. For me, it's about individuals – seeing them focus, seeing them in the stand, seeing them energetic, seeing them attacking rebounds with two hands, seeing them making the right plays and playing with the energy that's needed to get us a win. Today for example, there were players, multiple players that were lethargic and behind. That's a concern.”

(On the defensive issues and the fight on a regular basis)

“It’s everybody's fault. For me, I demand it. But when I demand it and I don't get it, I have to take blame. I'm the leader. When I tell guys the different ways of how we got to play, this is who we're playing, and this is how we got to play to win and we don't play that way, it falls on me. I understand that. That's a part of being a coach. I hope that my players look at me and say, not one day did he come in and blame us. I hope that my players look at me and say he still smiles with us, laughs with us, puts his arms around us, pushes us to be better knowing that, at times he is disappointed, at times he is upset. At times he is punishing us for doing things that we should be doing and not doing.”

Forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

(On Skyy Clark’s ability to play through recent injury and remain leading scorer and rebounder of the game)

Huntley-Hatfield: It speaks a true testament to our athletic (training) staff and them doing everything they can day in and day out to make sure he is ready to play comfortably. He went out there and gave us what he could, so he just has to keep trying to get healthy.

(On the difference in performance between the last two home games and tonight, and why tonight’s game turned out the way it did)

Huntley-Hatfield: I don’t really know to be honest. This is a game that we came in expecting to win, and then we got blasted by Notre Dame. I didn’t dominate this game the way I expected to, and I have to be better. I know I will be better next game.

(On players looking lethargic)

Huntley-Hatfield: I don’t think so. I feel like everyone was in the right mindset to go out there and compete. I didn’t feel like we were tired or felt lethargic. But, I mean, I am in my own place when I am playing, so I don’t see it all, but I felt like we brought good energy. I am not sure how we fell apart.

(On the locker room after a loss)

Huntley-Hatfield: It is not pleasant. No one likes losing and we expected to win this game and then Notre Dame blew it open in the second half by making many three’s. So, we have to go back to the drawing board as a team and fix it. We have a week to prepare for Duke, so we are going to shift our focus now. 

(Photo of Kenny Payne: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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