Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 If you have a question, please use the microphone,
00:02 turn it on for us.
00:03 - Now some people were in Charlotte yesterday,
00:09 I know they're not gonna ask me more questions.
00:12 And I know they're not gonna ask me about last year again.
00:16 - Well I won't ask you about last year,
00:18 I'll ask you about this year.
00:19 What do you expect out of this team,
00:22 and what kind of a team, do you have any idea,
00:25 I mean it's early, kind of the team,
00:27 and what mold that they'll fit in.
00:29 Will they run, rebound, do the things
00:31 that you want them to do?
00:32 - Great question.
00:33 You know for me, from the start of this,
00:37 from the summer to now, I've been trying to get them
00:40 to understand sort of my vision for the way
00:45 that I wanna play.
00:47 And it's not centered around me, it's centered around them.
00:51 So we have a bunch of players, right?
00:54 So easily we could have 10, 11 guys
00:59 that conceivably could be starting or playing.
01:02 So with that being said, when you have that many guys,
01:09 you have to dominate the defensive end of the floor.
01:13 You cannot let teams control the game.
01:16 And that takes focus and discipline,
01:20 and I use this word often, desperateness.
01:24 So defensively we have to be a team
01:27 that takes stuff away from offenses.
01:30 Offensively, we gotta be a team that's attacking,
01:35 that's playing with freedom, that's playing fast.
01:38 Which at times is hard, because I'm asking them,
01:42 and you can see when you watch the red-white game
01:47 and the Simmons game, at times they look
01:49 like they're overpassing.
01:51 I'm good with that, because I'm imagining
01:54 that we're playing Carolina, Duke, Clemson,
01:57 really good teams, Pittsburgh,
01:59 all these really good teams that are really good.
02:01 There you're not gonna be able to make one pass
02:03 and get up a shot.
02:04 You're not gonna be able to run down the court
02:07 and nobody else touch the ball and get a shot.
02:10 There gonna be good defensive teams
02:11 that's gonna force you to move the ball,
02:13 and so that's sort of why I like the fact
02:16 that they're trying to make extra passes to each other.
02:20 - Kenny, you've mentioned a few times this preseason
02:22 that you want this team to not forget
02:26 what happened last season.
02:27 I'm curious, how does a dynamic like that work
02:29 when you have a team that's mostly newcomers?
02:31 - The dynamic is we put it on the table,
02:35 which we've done from day one that they walked in here.
02:37 We've shown FAM of last year.
02:39 I watch FAM constantly of last year
02:43 to see what we did good and what we did bad,
02:47 and that's not centered around wins and losses.
02:50 It's more centered around what type of stuff that we run
02:54 that cause people problems,
02:55 and I want those guys to see it.
02:58 I want them to understand that this FAM base
03:03 is gonna be with you when you're winning.
03:07 They're gonna be with you,
03:09 so don't look at some of the negative stuff
03:13 and think that they automatically assume
03:15 that we're not any good.
03:17 Understand, just like football, when this is good,
03:20 they're gonna come and support you.
03:21 That's what the history of this program has been.
03:24 And so getting them to understand some of this
03:28 is just what happened over the course
03:33 of the last few years as a frustration.
03:36 Now it's time for us, this group, to fix it,
03:39 and it's the first step.
03:41 A lot of the things when I walked in the door,
03:43 we inherited.
03:44 Some of those guys that we inherited are gone.
03:47 The mentality is gone.
03:49 Now we're just starting a new culture.
03:53 - Kenny, you've mentioned so much
03:54 about the defensive side of the ball.
03:56 Young kids, they really kind of want to focus on offense.
04:00 How has this group bought into defense early on?
04:03 - You see it in spurts.
04:06 You see that we can pick up full court in spurts.
04:10 You see it, we haven't got consistent at it,
04:14 and I don't want us to be consistent at it right now.
04:16 We're learning about each other.
04:18 We're learning the importance of playing defense.
04:22 And as we watch games,
04:24 and as we play games and watch the film of it,
04:28 we'll understand why we're doing what we're doing.
04:31 Keeping the ball in front.
04:35 There was lessons in that from the Simmons game.
04:38 So I'm working on this drill for three or four days
04:41 about keeping the ball in front called a retreat drill.
04:44 Well, Tylor is constantly trying to get a steal,
04:47 like he's in high school.
04:49 He doesn't know yet.
04:50 He's gonna learn the discipline of having active hands
04:53 and keeping the ball in front
04:54 and retreating with his hips square.
04:57 Once we learn that and get it and it becomes second nature,
05:01 we're gonna be a really good defensive team
05:03 because we have length, we have shot blocking,
05:06 and we can play all over the perimeter.
05:08 - Kenny, when you look at last season,
05:10 and not even necessarily what happened on the court,
05:12 but off the court for you,
05:13 you've been in the game a long time,
05:14 but being a head coach, it's different.
05:16 The responsibilities are different.
05:17 The day-to-day is different.
05:19 How are you different going into year two?
05:22 Then what did you learn from that experience last year?
05:25 - I learned that the people that are with you
05:29 are gonna be with you.
05:30 The people that aren't, don't worry about 'em.
05:34 My job, the main thing I take away from it is
05:40 I had an obligation to the young people,
05:43 whether I recruited 'em or brought 'em in or not,
05:45 to love 'em, to be good to 'em,
05:49 to not take my frustrations out on 'em, and I didn't.
05:53 I treated every kid with respect.
05:56 I disciplined 'em.
05:57 I wasn't happy at all times with 'em.
06:01 So I take that away knowing that I did right by them,
06:04 which helps me sleep at night
06:06 because that's somebody's child.
06:09 And if any of us in this room
06:10 have ever been mothers or fathers,
06:13 I hope that we would understand
06:16 what it feels like for your child to be hurting,
06:18 for your child to not have success,
06:20 your child to have doubt,
06:22 your child to not believe in something.
06:24 Well, my job is to make sure that I inspire your child,
06:29 I do right by your child.
06:31 Doesn't mean we win or lose games,
06:33 but it means I discipline you to do right,
06:35 and that's what I feel good about.
06:38 - Okay, I have a question for you.
06:40 Following up from last year,
06:43 and you said there was so many people who,
06:47 players who left, and you brought in a lot of new ones.
06:49 How do you get them to all integrate now, work together?
06:53 Do you see bonds forming between certain players?
06:57 How do you get them to work together
06:58 and depend on each other?
07:00 - I think the great thing about the group that we brought in,
07:03 it was talked about in the recruiting process.
07:07 It's not a choice on how you're gonna carry yourself,
07:11 how you're gonna feel about your teammates.
07:13 It's not.
07:14 If you think it's a choice and you have days or moments
07:17 where you don't wanna be about team,
07:20 you don't wanna be in a group,
07:22 then I gotta put you on, I call it putting you on ice.
07:25 So you're in the refrigerator, you're on ice.
07:28 And the other guys will keep growing.
07:30 I believe in that.
07:34 I can't let one player, two players,
07:37 no matter how good they are,
07:39 I can't let them bring down the group.
07:42 They could be starters.
07:44 They could be my best player, it could be my worst player.
07:46 I don't care.
07:47 I know that I can't let the group suffer.
07:50 And so I try to do a good job of being honest with them.
07:55 And I think that's how, just being honest and real,
07:59 I think they earn respect for you for doing that.
08:02 - As you look at your team offensively,
08:06 what do you think the strength will be on the block,
08:09 beating people off the dribble,
08:10 shooting the ball from the perimeter?
08:12 What are you most encouraged by and what concerns you?
08:15 - It's hard to say because in the drills
08:21 and in the practices, we shoot the ball really well.
08:24 We shoot the three well,
08:27 but I also have wings and guards that can post up
08:31 to go along with a seven foot one kid
08:36 and Brandon who, when he's right, he's a force in the paint.
08:41 So we look like we're versatile
08:45 and that we can score everywhere,
08:47 but I got to see it against elite competition.
08:51 And until we play elite competition or good competition,
08:56 then we'll find out then.
08:58 - Kenny, we talk a lot about the group you brought in,
09:01 but to get to the point where you had that group together,
09:04 how difficult was it,
09:06 the ups and the downs of the off season
09:08 because you ran on other guys,
09:09 other guys may have wanted to come
09:11 that you didn't feel like fit the thing.
09:13 How difficult for you was it to put this group together?
09:16 - Great question.
09:18 It was hard to put this group together
09:23 coming off what we came off of.
09:25 I don't think it gets talked about a lot
09:29 for whatever reason,
09:30 doesn't matter why it doesn't get talked about.
09:33 You know, to win four games
09:36 and to go out and get people to believe in what you're doing
09:40 and to be a part of it,
09:42 it's difficult, it's difficult.
09:45 But it also goes to show that by being honest,
09:50 by being genuine, by putting young people first,
09:54 they will buy in,
09:57 they will come and be a part of what you're doing
09:59 once they see it.
10:01 Louisville is a great place to play college basketball,
10:04 a great city, a great community for basketball.
10:07 But it also,
10:10 it's a place where you gotta be committed to basketball.
10:15 And when you're not committed to basketball,
10:18 you're gonna hear about it,
10:20 which is normal, that's the way it should be.
10:23 That's what makes this a great state.
10:26 It's a basketball place that,
10:28 and not that it's not football,
10:30 but it's a great state where basketball,
10:32 the history of basketball in this state,
10:35 it's been unbelievable.
10:36 - Hey, Kenny, when I was talking with Mike
10:39 and JJ yesterday, they mentioned Sky and Trey
10:43 as being two of the guys who have been
10:46 very vocal leaders on this team so far.
10:48 What about them as people makes that process easier
10:52 when you come in from new teams
10:53 and then you're now taking on the vocal role
10:55 to try to push others to get better?
10:57 - I think for those two in particular,
11:01 I think being in those roles where they
11:04 may or not have been happy at times
11:06 helped them.
11:08 The experience of being in college helped them.
11:11 And I think they bring that to the table,
11:15 which makes us better.
11:17 They both have a quality that I look for
11:21 in players, they're givers.
11:23 So some people recruit based off of,
11:27 can he shoot, can he rebound,
11:29 what is his numbers, what is his analytics?
11:32 I need guys that are givers.
11:34 I need spirit children who have a spirit about them
11:37 that everything about them and around them
11:40 lifts up the room, lifts up a team.
11:43 I need guys that are more concerned with their play
11:46 in conjunction with the team than themselves individually.
11:53 I think these two kids fit that, they're givers.
11:56 - Kenny, you've talked about the eye test
11:59 a lot with this group when it comes to fans
12:01 watching the product.
12:02 I'm curious if they apply that to watching you
12:04 coach the game plan, the approach,
12:06 what do you think they'll notice
12:07 about your growth in year two?
12:09 - I hope I'm a little more positive.
12:13 I hope that my body language can be better.
12:18 It was torture at times to go through that.
12:23 It was hard.
12:24 I never lost like that before.
12:27 But it also, I learned from it.
12:31 I learned that I can't take it personal.
12:35 It wasn't about me.
12:37 Now, some people will say it's about you, but it's not.
12:40 It was never about me.
12:42 When I took this job, I told this community,
12:45 this city, this state, I need everybody.
12:49 Well, some people decided I was making it up,
12:53 and they jumped off.
12:54 I didn't need them anymore.
12:56 So, for me, I think that what I wanna do
13:01 is be able to have fun with kids.
13:05 Have fun winning, have fun dominating with kids.
13:09 I tease them sometimes and say, listen,
13:12 I'm the coach that wants to be able to talk trash
13:14 with you to the opponent.
13:16 I wanna be that kind of coach.
13:18 That's laughing, joking, running by the sideline
13:20 and me telling them, yo, we about to score
13:22 on you right here.
13:23 I'm that kind of coach.
13:24 That's what I wanna do.
13:26 And hopefully they can help me do that.
13:29 - Kenny, going back to the versatility bit,
13:33 how much do you think this team has improved
13:37 in that department compared to last year's team
13:39 on either end of the court?
13:41 - I just think that we have a different group.
13:47 We have a different chemistry.
13:48 We have a different basketball team.
13:51 We have guys that are in the gym.
13:54 We have guys that I purposely make things hard
14:00 so that I can see personalities.
14:02 I can see character.
14:04 And then I can see lack of character.
14:07 When I make things hard, I see them huddling up,
14:11 saying, okay, let's huddle up.
14:12 He's gonna run us again now.
14:14 Like, please, guys, let's make sure we focus.
14:17 Let's make sure we have great energy.
14:19 That's a sign for me.
14:20 At times in the past, it's been more splintered.
14:25 You hear arguments.
14:27 Those days are gone.
14:28 Nobody's really arguing like that.
14:29 So that gives me hope that we are coming together.
14:34 We're learning about each other.
14:35 And when things get hard, they gravitate to each other.
14:39 - Kenny, maybe as a follow-up, for you now as a coach,
14:43 since last year, kind of, it was the group you said
14:44 you inherited, and you might have had to accept
14:47 a few things with this group,
14:48 now that you have the group that you want,
14:50 what are some things that now you just,
14:51 you can say you won't accept it
14:53 if you see it out in practice or during the game?
14:55 - You know, my pet peeves are confidence.
15:01 Another one is conditioning.
15:04 And then the third one is sharing.
15:08 Those are three things, when I look at the team,
15:10 I gotta see it every day.
15:12 So when you shoot a basketball,
15:15 I don't want you to shoot shots that you can look
15:18 at the kid and know he doesn't believe it's going in.
15:21 'Cause if he don't believe it's going in,
15:23 you know what it's doing to me,
15:24 and I know what it's doing to you.
15:25 I don't wanna see players on their knees,
15:31 like, showing that they're winded, that they're tired.
15:33 We work too hard for that.
15:36 In our practices, it's intense.
15:39 It's long, it's hard.
15:42 I wanna be the coach that people say,
15:45 like a bunch of NBA people have came
15:47 into our practices thus far.
15:50 They never came last year.
15:51 They're coming.
15:53 So you're being evaluated.
15:54 And one of the greatest things about it is,
15:57 they're walking away saying,
15:59 you will be a disciplined team,
16:01 you're demanding a coach,
16:03 and you will be a well-conditioned team,
16:05 maybe the most conditioned team in the country.
16:07 I take pride in that.
16:09 So those are things that I look for,
16:11 and I hope that we can build on.
16:14 - Kenny, what is it like being a basketball coach
16:17 in kind of a football world,
16:19 given that most of the moves being made right now
16:21 in college athletics are driven by football?
16:24 - I haven't thought about it like that,
16:27 to be honest with you.
16:28 I try to stay in my world, focus on my world,
16:33 because this is too hard to get sidetracked
16:37 and caught up in the other stuff.
16:41 I have a really hard job,
16:43 and that hard job is requiring me
16:46 to really change the culture of this brand
16:50 and bring back the history of what made Louisville great.
16:55 If I get sidetracked with all the other stuff
16:57 that's going on, I couldn't do that.
17:00 I couldn't do it.
17:01 It's too hard.
17:02 - Kenny, talking about last season,
17:04 a lot of people have focused on what's happened last year,
17:08 and just having the opportunity to turn a page.
17:10 Is this almost kind of a fresh slate for you,
17:12 a clean slate, or do you feel pressure
17:14 going into this year trying to avoid
17:16 what happened last year?
17:17 - I don't feel pressure.
17:21 I feel like when you look at it genuinely, honestly,
17:26 it's the first step, the first step.
17:32 This was broken, right?
17:36 It was broken.
17:39 On a lot of different fronts.
17:41 So to watch it, see it, evaluate it,
17:44 figure out how do you fix this,
17:47 how do you change this, has been hard.
17:51 So I feel like we've taken a major step
17:54 in the right direction.
17:56 I want people to watch us and say, it looks different.
18:00 That's why I keep talking about the eye test.
18:02 It feels different.
18:03 The energy's different.
18:06 And then people will understand
18:07 that we're headed in the right direction.
18:09 - Kenny, what do you need to get--
18:12 (audience laughing)
18:12 - He's been waiting for a minute to get to me.
18:15 - What do you need to get out of Brandon
18:18 for this team to be as good?
18:20 Do you agree that sometimes it looks like
18:22 he doesn't affect the game when he's out there,
18:23 but he clearly, you have confidence in him
18:26 that he should be that player.
18:28 And have you seen it in practice?
18:29 I mean, have you seen demonstrated performance
18:31 that he can do that?
18:33 - I'm hoping that he can do that.
18:34 I push him to do that.
18:36 I challenge him to do that.
18:37 I'm not giving up on him.
18:39 I'm actually gonna tighten up on him
18:43 because I need Brandon to be a force.
18:48 I need Brandon Hatfield to be a force.
18:51 Sometimes Brandon thinks I can be something else
18:56 because there are so many people in these kids' ear.
18:59 Maybe you can be a small forward.
19:01 Maybe you can be this.
19:02 Maybe you can be that.
19:03 Brandon Hatfield has been told by me,
19:07 you have to be an elite rebounder.
19:10 I need to be able to switch one through five
19:12 if you're playing the five.
19:13 One through four if you're playing the four.
19:15 And there should be no different
19:17 than a point guard guarding him and you guarding him.
19:19 You have to move your feet.
19:21 You have to be an excellent screener.
19:26 Excellent.
19:26 Your body probably requires you,
19:29 and it looks like at 245 pounds,
19:32 that you should get people open at all times.
19:36 I need you to do that.
19:37 I need you to make free throws,
19:40 and I need you to finish around the basket.
19:42 And I need you to be a giver.
19:46 I need you to get out of,
19:48 I gotta do this, I gotta do this for you,
19:51 and think more about, I'm gonna do this,
19:54 I'm gonna do this for us.
19:56 Those things do it for us.
19:58 And watch what happens to your teammates
20:00 and what happens to your team.
20:02 - Kenny, before the Simmons exhibition game,
20:04 you kinda talked about,
20:05 hey, you're trying a lot of different lineups
20:07 to see what works and what doesn't work.
20:11 Coming into this last exhibition game,
20:12 are you still in that mode?
20:14 Are you starting to figure some things out?
20:16 - We will see.
20:17 We will see.
20:18 I know people wanna figure out who I'm starting,
20:22 what I'm starting, how I'm doing.
20:24 Listen, I said it.
20:26 In order for us to change from last year,
20:29 I had to bring in a lot of guys.
20:31 What does it look like if I only focus on certain guys
20:34 and I leave five or six back?
20:36 What does that look like to them?
20:38 So people may question.
20:40 People may question from within.
20:42 I can't worry about that.
20:44 I gotta find out who's gonna help us,
20:47 who can start, who can come off the bench.
20:52 Is it eight guys, is it nine guys?
20:54 Can it be 10 guys?
20:55 They determine that, and then I evaluate that.
20:59 So in order to do that, I gotta put 'em in situations
21:01 where, look, I started one five,
21:05 then I start another five.
21:07 Let's see what you do.
21:09 And then I evaluate what you do.
21:11 - Kenny, when you look at all the new guys,
21:13 how close is Curtis, his versatility and all that,
21:17 to what you want?
21:18 You know, you've talked a lot in the last year and a half
21:20 or so about the type of player you want.
21:23 How close is he with that versatility
21:25 and what he can do out there?
21:27 - I want him to be a willing learner.
21:30 I want him to, every single day,
21:33 challenge the older guys to be better.
21:37 And what you find is, if he does that,
21:40 he may catch 'em, pass 'em.
21:42 Curtis Williams all summer played point guard,
21:45 the whole summer.
21:47 And when Tyler got eligible,
21:49 I could see it on his face and he said it.
21:52 I'm glad I don't have to play point no more.
21:54 I jumped him for that.
21:57 I jumped him because I don't, I said it, a willing learner.
22:01 I'm throwing something at you that you've never seen before.
22:04 In high school, your coach told everybody,
22:07 throw you the ball and just let you shoot.
22:09 I'm not doing that.
22:10 That's not gonna help you be the player that you need to be.
22:13 I need you to be a willing learner.
22:15 If I throw you at the point, coach, I got it.
22:18 If I put you at the power forward, coach, I got it.
22:22 That's the type of player I need him to be.
22:25 - You have mentioned,
22:26 you have mentioned about players playing with a hunger.
22:31 Who do you see doing that consistently?
22:34 And also, is this team playing with a chip on their shoulder?
22:37 - It's hard to say exactly that they're playing
22:41 with a chip on their shoulder now.
22:44 We hadn't played enough.
22:46 There was emotions involved against Simmons
22:48 where we were tentative.
22:49 Consistently, I would say Scott Clark every day
22:54 comes to work and goes hard.
22:56 Trey White comes to work every day and goes hard.
23:00 Mike James comes to work every day and goes hard.
23:03 Dennis Evans comes to work every day, body's hurting.
23:07 I can't, literally saying, I'm not gonna go eat.
23:11 I'm not gonna hang out.
23:12 I ain't going to the movies.
23:13 I'm not going to the mall.
23:14 I'm going to get in a bed and ready for the next day.
23:16 I know he gonna try to kill me.
23:18 So, so I love that.
23:21 I love that they giving me what they have
23:25 and I'm asking for more
23:27 and then they're overcoming that barrier.
23:29 That make sense?
23:30 - JJ had his best season last year.
23:34 How has he grown since you've been here
23:35 and what's the next step for him?
23:37 - To me, JJ, he got a lot better.
23:43 He's more sure of himself.
23:45 He made so many strides as a player.
23:49 When I walked through these doors
23:51 and I tried not to remember this with him,
23:55 but every mistake he made, he slumped his shoulders.
23:58 His head was down.
23:58 He had no belief.
24:00 Some of this, we probably beat belief into him,
24:04 but there are times now where he's dominant.
24:10 The last practice we had, he was dominant.
24:12 His energy was dominant.
24:14 And then there's other times where he's floating.
24:17 He's not giving the energy.
24:19 I need to know why.
24:20 I need to know how do we get you being that dominant player
24:23 you were last practice every single day of your life.
24:27 If you're that, every NBA team will want you.
24:30 Every player, every organization in basketball
24:34 wants players that are that athletic, that skill,
24:37 that play with a fire, that play with that kind of energy.
24:41 - Kenny, you've talked a lot about Dennis.
24:44 You've coached a lot of successful big men.
24:46 Does he remind you of any of the successful ones
24:49 or is he that unique of a talent with his length and height?
24:53 - He is.
24:54 I've never coached anybody like Dennis
24:56 simply because he's his body.
25:01 He's so long.
25:03 His legs are pretty thin, to say the least,
25:08 but he has ways about him that influence winning.
25:14 The way he blocks shots,
25:19 the way he's catching the ball
25:20 and finishing around the basket,
25:23 dunking everything that he can dunk.
25:25 I've gotten hundreds of calls
25:29 just off the two times that we've played
25:32 where people have seen, saying,
25:33 "Kenny, he's gotten better.
25:35 "He's gotten a lot better."
25:37 Well, two things with that.
25:39 How was he before?
25:41 And then he has really gotten better
25:44 and he's embraced getting better.
25:46 I'm on the big guys about setting screens
25:48 and then I watch film
25:49 and his small frame is hitting people
25:52 and it's hurting him just as much
25:54 as it's hurting the defender, but he's doing it.
25:57 And then he's getting out and getting out of those screens
26:00 and getting to the rim and catching lobs.
26:02 I like that.
26:04 And Dennis hasn't even touched the surface
26:07 of how good he's going to be.
26:09 We just got to continue to pour water on him
26:12 and continue to let him grow.
26:14 - Kenny, how much more aggressive is Mike James
26:17 in this preseason compared to last,
26:19 considering he was coming off
26:20 of that Achilles injury last year?
26:22 - Me and Mike James yesterday had the pleasure
26:26 on the plane ride to Charlotte,
26:29 we watched a game together.
26:32 And I'm like, "Mike, look at the way you're moving.
26:34 "Look at the way the guy back cut you and you was lost.
26:38 "Why weren't you alert to see a man in ball?
26:41 "Why you can't separate running the floor?"
26:44 His words.
26:46 I told him, "Coach, I was fat last year."
26:49 (laughing)
26:50 I said, "Okay, I give you that, you was fat.
26:53 "But are you better now?"
26:59 Literally, I'm asking him, "Are you better now?"
27:01 I know he's better.
27:03 I know he's more sure of himself.
27:05 I know he feels more comfortable.
27:07 I want to hear him say it.
27:09 And so he was like,
27:09 "I'm not even the same player I was a year ago.
27:12 "I wasn't the same player from the beginning of the season
27:15 "to the middle of the season.
27:17 "I was much better at the end of the season last year."
27:20 You were.
27:21 I figured out that I needed to lose weight.
27:23 That's why I came to you, Coach,
27:24 and said, "Can you put me on a diet?"
27:26 And I said, "No, I want you to stay fat.
27:29 "You're gonna be my two-guard playing the four."
27:32 So I posted Mike a lot last year
27:34 because he's big and strong
27:36 and can finish around the basket.
27:38 Mike James is a joy to coach.
27:40 Guys, when I tell you a joy to coach, a joy to coach.
27:43 If I had six, seven guys like Mike James,
27:46 regardless of position, you don't lose.
27:49 I just need Mike to feel good about himself
27:51 and play with extreme confidence.
27:53 And whatever happens, happens.
27:55 - Quick follow-up, how much weight did he lose?
27:58 - I have no idea.
27:59 - Turnovers were probably the biggest problem
28:03 for you guys last year on offense.
28:04 Other than changing personnel, what have you done,
28:07 what can you do to get it down to a level
28:09 where it's not a problem for you guys?
28:13 - I think one thing is, you know,
28:16 last year we worked every single day
28:17 on passing the basketball to each other.
28:19 I think this year we're, so far,
28:24 our turnovers have been over-dribbling.
28:29 Some of those turnovers we had during the season last year,
28:33 you can't draw up.
28:35 You're dribbling the ball and then all of a sudden
28:36 nobody's around you and the ball goes out of bounds.
28:39 You get an offensive rebound,
28:42 you go up, nobody jumps with you
28:44 and the ball goes up straight in the air
28:45 and you lose the ball.
28:46 You throw the ball straight out of bounds
28:50 and there's nobody there to receive the ball,
28:52 nobody's there.
28:54 Unforced turnovers cost us a lot.
28:57 I would like to think that we are better.
29:00 What I've seen so far, we are not the same type of team.
29:03 But I still have a little scar tissue left from last year
29:09 and I'm not gonna believe it until I see it.
29:12 - Try to finish that so we can do team talk.
29:14 We'll go Brooks and then Joey.
29:15 - Yeah, both Mike and JJ talked yesterday
29:18 about just needing some time after last season ended
29:22 to leave campus and to just not think
29:26 about basketball for a while.
29:28 What did you see from them when they came back
29:30 and hit the gym hard?
29:32 Mike said it, he needed maybe just two days back home
29:35 before he was ready to get back in the gym.
29:37 What sort of effort did you see from them
29:39 from day one of coming back and trying to just build
29:42 towards this year?
29:44 - Well, when I mentally take myself back
29:49 to the end of last season and after the players decided
29:53 and we decided who was coming back and who was leaving,
29:55 I went to the strength coach and I went to the trainer
29:59 and said, "Listen, whoever I bring in these doors,
30:03 "no matter who it is, this group that's here
30:06 "better be head and shoulders ahead of them.
30:09 "Conditioning wise, strength wise,
30:11 "knowing what we're doing in the weight room,
30:14 "they have to be ahead of them
30:15 "because I don't want these guys to come into an environment
30:20 "new guys where they are already on top.
30:24 "I want them to see that these guys work hard
30:27 "and that their bodies and their condition,
30:29 "they can handle whatever's thrown at 'em
30:31 "and then they follow suit.
30:33 "If the new guys are the ones leading the pack
30:36 "straight out the gate, that's a problem."
30:39 - Kenny, Sky was so good when he was younger,
30:43 when you first started recruiting him back in the day.
30:45 He's had some ups and downs.
30:47 What does he still have?
30:50 He's still got that talent, obviously.
30:51 How have you seen him kind of grow
30:53 and maybe how do you get rid of some of the things
30:56 in the past that have not been good in his game?
30:59 - To me, Sky Clark is a very skilled basketball player
31:06 that's a winning person.
31:10 What I mean by winning person is,
31:13 he's, who he is, his personality, his character,
31:18 he cares about people.
31:20 He cares about his teammates.
31:22 There's been hundreds of players
31:26 that he has relationships that have reached out to me.
31:30 Some saying, "Man, I'm so glad you got Sky."
31:33 Some saying, "Man, I wanna come to Louisville
31:35 "and play with Sky."
31:36 That's the personality he has.
31:39 For Sky, in my opinion,
31:41 and what I've talked to Sky about is,
31:44 whoever the naysayers are, I want you to prove them wrong.
31:48 And how do you prove them wrong?
31:49 Nobody's questioning that you're a good basketball player.
31:53 I want you to prove them wrong whatever,
31:54 if they say that you're not tough enough.
31:57 If they say through adversity, you'll sort of shut down.
32:00 Whatever it is that they're saying,
32:02 you have to prove them wrong.
32:04 And we are gonna prove them wrong together.
32:07 You're not doing this by yourself.
32:08 You won't ever feel like you're doing this by yourself.
32:11 Now you with a group of coaches,
32:13 a team that's all centered around your success.
32:17 And you're gonna be about the team.
32:19 And we're gonna be about you.
32:22 So that's sort of how I evaluate him.
32:26 - Great, thank you, Coach.
32:27 - All right, guys.
32:28 - Hello everybody and then.