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00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:03 >> Yeah, I guess just talk about them a little, and
00:06 they're a little bit unique to play, aren't they?
00:09 >> Well, as I watch their games, I keep hearing the commentators say the same
00:14 things, these coaches are all talking about it's a tough team to play.
00:19 They're right, very good team, very unique team, and
00:23 the fact that they will try to beat you in transition if they don't have anything.
00:27 They move the ball, you have positions where there's 10, 11, 12 passes.
00:34 And they'll burn you when you make mistakes.
00:37 They're playing to make sure that they figure out that you're gonna make
00:40 a mistake somewhere on the back cut, on the down screen.
00:43 Standing straight up and they drive you, they shot fake you.
00:48 They're a very well coached team and tough to play against.
00:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:55 >> Follow up on that, what does that mean for your defense?
00:59 >> That means that we have to be disciplined.
01:02 We gotta keep the ball in front.
01:04 We have to always see the ball.
01:06 We can't get beat by back doors.
01:10 The ball movement, we have to be alert.
01:11 We have to pressure passes.
01:13 We have to be the aggressor.
01:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]
01:18 >> Yeah, Kenny, what do you think is the biggest key for
01:23 the defense to have the level of consistency that you saw in New York?
01:29 Do you think that it comes in the offense end or on the defense event?
01:33 >> I gotta tell you, I think it's both ends.
01:38 I think that we have to be better defensively for longer periods of time.
01:41 I'll tell you that we have to make sure we're all connected defensively,
01:47 communicating defensively.
01:49 And then offensively, again,
01:53 the number one team in the country at drawing files, Louisville.
01:59 Second in the country or third in the country at free throws made, Louisville.
02:04 We're doing the first part, which is the hardest part of building a team,
02:08 which is getting the ball in the paint and drawing files.
02:12 Now we gotta finish a little better at the rim.
02:15 And then we gotta make sure that when we kick it out, we shoot the ball and
02:18 shoot the ball a little better, which we're capable of doing.
02:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]
02:25 >> Kenny, how many guys ideally do you wanna play?
02:27 Are you getting to a point where you're kinda shortening your rotation a little
02:30 bit?
02:31 >> I think they dictate that at this juncture of the season.
02:36 I wanna play whoever's gonna help me win a game.
02:41 Whoever has the ability to step in there and fight and
02:45 play with toughness and know what we're doing, know your job,
02:50 do your job, and be consistent with it, you got an opportunity to play here.
02:55 I tell every player on this team, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart,
02:59 if you have a jersey on your back, I am not afraid of putting you in the game.
03:03 Be prepared.
03:04 >> Kenny, obviously winning can help a lot of things.
03:08 Have you noticed a difference in the team's mindset and
03:10 how they've come to practice since they did pick up a win?
03:15 >> I think that they're at a little bit of on the fence.
03:20 I think they're understanding how hard winning is,
03:25 which sometimes we don't really as fans, as adults,
03:30 as media, we don't really understand how hard it is.
03:33 But they're figuring out, I can't relax.
03:38 All these players are good players.
03:40 Doesn't matter the name of their school.
03:43 What matters is they have experience, they know how to play,
03:46 they've been in this for a while, I'm learning this.
03:49 I think there was a stat that said we were ranked 290 something in experience.
03:56 Well, who are the other teams that has more experience or
04:01 less experience than us?
04:03 Look at that list and you'll see that we're building something and it's hard.
04:08 It's really hard.
04:08 If it was easy, I guess everybody would be doing it.
04:12 It's hard and we're trying to figure it out.
04:13 >> Yeah, this isn't just another non-conference game because they're here
04:19 in town, they beat you last year.
04:20 Do you have to talk to your guys about that or do they already understand that?
04:26 >> We talked to them about it.
04:27 Had some of the guys that was on the team last year talk to the new guys about it.
04:33 For us, for me as a coach, for the coaching staff, look, we wanna go out and
04:40 we wanna play a good brand of basketball.
04:42 Of course we wanna win the game.
04:44 We wanna fight.
04:45 We wanna prove to people that we belong and that we're a good team.
04:48 We wanna earn respect.
04:49 And every player needs to understand what that means.
04:54 This team happens to be in Louisville and they're a good opponent and
04:58 we gotta play well to beat them.
04:59 >> Kenny, I think this is the last year you guys were scheduled to play in
05:04 Bellarmine.
05:05 Do you anticipate picking this series up and continuing it down the road?
05:09 >> I have not thought about it.
05:10 Right now, I don't think I have the time to think about it.
05:15 I'm trying to get this team ready for what we gotta face in this season.
05:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]
05:26 >> Yeah, Kenny, after the game Sunday, Sky was talking to Paul and Bob and
05:30 just mentioned just how much of a confidence the team had
05:34 taking the court in New York.
05:36 Do you think that that's just because of, I'm hearing you talk about
05:40 just how special Madison Square Garden is and just what that does to players.
05:44 But do you see a difference in this team's confidence level when it was
05:49 playing there versus when it's playing here back at home in front of smaller
05:52 crowds?
05:53 >> I think it's all about mindset.
05:57 I can't say it has anything to do with Madison Square Garden,
06:01 which is a great format to play college basketball or any kind of basketball.
06:06 I think that when we step on the court, we have to play with an energy.
06:10 There are no excuses of why you don't play with energy.
06:13 There are no excuses of why you don't play with a fire,
06:15 why you don't play discipline, why you don't play together.
06:19 So I really, for me, from my standpoint, I don't care where we play.
06:27 We better play hard, we better play together, and
06:29 we better play disciplined basketball.
06:32 >> Kenny, where is kind of the line or what kind of balance do you have between,
06:36 you've mentioned before you want them to have the freedom,
06:40 offensively to kind of play through mistakes and all that kind of stuff.
06:44 And the flip side of that though is you maybe having to use the bench
06:50 as to teach lessons and this is how I want things done.
06:54 >> Great question.
06:56 I think that some of us feel the line is drawn when it's about effort.
07:02 If you're not giving effort, I cannot have you on that floor.
07:06 If you're not knowing what we're doing, after we go over it time and
07:10 time again, you cannot be on that floor.
07:13 If the other guy is playing harder or competing better than you,
07:17 how am I gonna leave you on the floor?
07:19 I can't.
07:19 I need you to learn, but I need you to learn fast.
07:22 It's unfair at times to young players because they're walking into something
07:28 that is very difficult and you can see from a coaching standpoint,
07:34 they're unsure at times, but then there are times they are confident.
07:38 There are times they are competing.
07:40 There are times they are.
07:42 Case in example is Caleb Glenn against Indiana.
07:46 He went in there and fought his tail off.
07:48 He played great.
07:49 He came back, he had played solid against the team we just played, but
07:55 he wasn't as sure of himself as he was against Indiana.
07:58 He didn't have the same energy, the same fight.
08:01 Now you can look at it and say, and he probably does, and say,
08:04 I'm gonna play more than play with the same energy, play with the same fight.
08:08 I believe in you.
08:09 You're gonna get the minutes.
08:11 You just gotta be ready and you don't determine when you get them.
08:14 I do.
08:15 So you can sit back and complain about it.
08:18 This is every player.
08:20 Or you can wait your turn.
08:22 When your turn gets called, be prepared.
08:24 And that's what I'm looking for, guys that are prepared.
08:27 >> What are your thoughts on Evans?
08:30 I think he has taken two shots in the last five games.
08:35 He's only gotten two rebounds, 43 minutes.
08:38 Can you stick with him without more production or
08:42 you think about a quarter?
08:43 What are your thoughts?
08:45 >> I just think Dennis, he's learning.
08:48 He's learning on the fly.
08:50 This is really difficult for him.
08:52 It would be easier for him to sit back under the basket and just stand there and
08:58 hope that somebody drives in for him to block a shot, but that's not reality.
09:02 The speed of the game is catching him off guard.
09:05 He's learning.
09:06 He's digesting it.
09:08 We met yesterday and talked about it.
09:10 He's in a good place mentally.
09:12 He understands that he has to continue to grow for us.
09:16 But at the end of the day, he's a great kid.
09:21 We need him.
09:22 So I'm not sitting here saying that I don't need him and
09:25 I can afford to sit him down.
09:27 He needs to develop.
09:29 That's why I came here, to develop, to be a good player.
09:31 But there's a point in time in this where he has to watch and
09:37 observe a little bit and say, okay, I gotta get better at this.
09:40 I gotta play lower.
09:42 I gotta be able to move my feet quicker so that I'm not playing behind the game.
09:46 I'm anticipating and playing ahead of the game.
09:48 And that's on both ends.
09:51 >> Kenny, I'm curious, when you sit back and
09:52 kind of break down your team just with the games you've played so far.
09:56 Why do you think at this point in the season so
09:59 far they've kind of struggled at times to defend the painted area?
10:02 It seems like there have been a handful of occasions where either communication or
10:06 rotation completely breaks down and
10:07 links to some pretty wide open defenders down low.
10:10 >> Well, you just said it, communication.
10:13 When communication breaks down, you put us in a bad situation.
10:16 If we're talking and we alert and we talk things out and we're solid,
10:22 we don't have those issues.
10:25 I think another piece to this is we gotta do a better job of keeping the ball in
10:28 front of us.
10:29 That's a toughness thing.
10:30 The other part of it is, there are times when teams are posting us up.
10:36 For example, Texas or some Indiana or whoever it is, and the guy's bigger,
10:42 stronger, and he's just taking it down and we're not resisting him.
10:46 We're not fighting him before he catches.
10:48 We're just hoping that he misses.
10:50 He's not gonna miss.
10:52 He's not gonna miss.
10:53 So we have to fight.
10:55 We have to do a better job of protecting our paint,
10:57 both individually first and then as a team.
11:01 >> Yeah, I don't know how much you've looked at last year's game against them
11:06 recently, but what are the one or two things that you guys
11:09 have to do differently this year against them to win the game?
11:14 >> One is guard the three.
11:16 They're a good shooting team.
11:18 Probably the most important thing is one on one defense,
11:22 keeping the ball in front of us.
11:24 There were times when they took advantage of matchups and
11:26 just drove the ball and got layups, got post-ups.
11:29 We jumped.
11:30 We wasn't disciplined.
11:31 We didn't stay on our feet and gave them an angle to the basket.
11:35 Gotta do a better job of that.
11:36 >> And as you watch the film,
11:39 how did you evaluate what you got from a core four on Sunday?
11:43 >> Gave us great energy, played hard, played physical, got a couple rebounds.
11:50 He was really good for us.
11:51 He continues to grow.
11:53 He'll continue to get minutes.
11:54 >> Yeah, after that game, you mentioned that you needed to see more from Brandon and
12:00 that he can be a big reason on why this team starts so fast.
12:07 Was there anything that you saw in the film where you think you can get him
12:12 the ball more or try to get him more involved in ways that he wasn't on Sunday?
12:18 >> For me, it's not about getting him the ball to get him involved.
12:23 It's about him defending, playing with energy, playing with toughness.
12:26 How about him rebounding?
12:28 How about him moving his feet?
12:29 We're switching.
12:31 He has to keep the ball in front.
12:32 We work on it every day.
12:34 Look, we're a good team when he plays well.
12:38 A lot of this, we're not as good when he doesn't play well.
12:42 So we need him to play well.
12:44 It's not a choice.
12:45 It's not centered on, I need to throw him the ball early in the game to get him
12:49 to play well.
12:51 He has to fight through and he has to do it at both ends.
12:55 >> Why do you think Mike James is struggling with his shooting, Kenny, and
13:00 has that affected other elements of this game?
13:02 >> Probably in Mike's mind, I think he looks at it and says, I wanna make shots.
13:08 I wanna make shots.
13:09 I wanna make shots.
13:10 For me and for this team, we don't really look at Mike that way.
13:16 Yes, we need Mike James to make shots.
13:19 Mike James has an impact on this team just by being on the floor.
13:23 He brings a toughness.
13:24 He brings a chemistry piece to this that we sorely need.
13:28 He brings experience that we sorely need.
13:31 He is a leader of this team.
13:33 So he can, in his mind, think I gotta make shots to be productive.
13:38 In my mind, I'm telling him, you don't have to make shots to be productive.
13:42 Do all the other things.
13:44 >> Kenny, obviously,
13:45 Brayden's done a good job impacting the game early on with his presence on
13:49 the backboards.
13:50 But how much does Trey White's presence rebounding,
13:53 especially offensively, how much does that impact the overall game?
13:56 >> I think Trey White is a vital piece to everything we do, and
14:00 not just in rebounding.
14:02 I'm asking Trey White to fill up a stat sheet.
14:05 I'm asking him to get six, seven, eight, nine rebounds.
14:08 I'm asking him to get 12, 15 points or more.
14:11 I'm asking him to get two or three steals and two or three assists.
14:14 He's that type of player.
14:16 He's learning about himself.
14:17 He's really young.
14:19 But he is capable of doing that.
14:21 I believe in him.
14:23 And he's a vital piece to everything that we do.
14:25 >> All right, good.
14:27 All right, thanks, Coach.