about walking out and having our circle tighter than ever. Walking out of that room and having a resolve about them. As they go back to their dorms, and like all kids do, and they check their social media, and [listening] to all the people that [have] been telling them how good they are, [or] just crushing them, because that’s how it is, that’s the world. I just told them, don’t blink. Don’t blink. Look to the guy to the right of you, look to the guy next to you, love him more than ever. Don’t blame anybody else. Don’t complain about anything else, don’t get defensive. Just know that we’ve got to go back to work on Monday and get better, and we will.”
(On if how well players adjusted to the atmosphere)
“I think they did. [Tennessee] punched us in the mouth. We got on our heels at the beginning of the game, and obviously the crowd was revved up like crazy. They got off to a pretty significant lead at the beginning, but I thought our guys rallied. [There were] a couple of times where [the deficit] was getting close to ten [points] or single digits, and you could just feel the crowd just wanted something to get a little momentum and we just couldn’t get over the hump. [Tennessee] would make a play, they would make a big shot, they would get a big stop. Then late in the game we called that timeout with four or five minutes left, [and] there [were] two or three possessions where it looked like, the five guys that were on the floor had given up, right? No pun intended, but it looked like we waved the white flag, and we called a timeout, got after them, and [Louisville] responded, went out and played hard, and continued to compete right down to the very end. We’re going to play the Tennessee’s moving forward, we’re going to play teams of that standard, and we’re going to be ready for it next time, I can promise you that.”
room. the normal feel or tendency, or the human nature in me wanted to go in and just pound my fist, throw my notebook down, and lose, that’s not it. Walking out of that room it’s about the resolve of our 25 strong. And on Monday at practice, we’re going to have a phenomenal second practice and we are going to get better because of it.
(On going through something like this with a new team and facing adversity for the first time)
“One hundred percent, that’s exactly right. Adversity is a great educator. Adversity is a great teacher. But if you don’t look at it that way, and you feel sorry for yourself, and put your tail between your legs, and you look down when you walk into the student center, you walk into the grocery store. You’re not approaching it the right way. Unbelievable adversity for our team, and it’s great. We are going to learn from it”
(On (Zakai) Zeigler’s effect on the game)
“You know, appreciate the beginning of that question, because you sounded like my mom who’s going to try to make me feel good when I walk out of this press conference. Blew some sunshine at me there at the beginning. But number 5 is a phenomenal stinking player. He was dominant today. He’s the preseason defensive player of the year in the SEC for a reason. He wreaks havoc.
“I believe in our guys. I believe in our guards. I know what they are capable of. Those guys feel terrible right now, and they’re better than how they played today. I’m better than how I coached today, but you give that kid credit. You tip your cap to big moments when we had a little bit of momentum and the YUM started rocking, he answered, even if it was a little bit of a prayer shot, at the end of the shot clock. It’s what big-time players do. They step up and make big-time plays and big-time moments, that’s what that cat did. So, a lot of respect for him, and it’s probably a really good chance that well see these guys down the road and next time we’ll be better.”
Leave a Reply