Louisville vs. Kentucky Wesleyan

Opening Statement
COACH DAVID PADGETT: "All things considered, first time out against somebody else, we had a lot of bright spots. I was disappointed in our defense in the first half, or at least, the second half of the first half. We kind of just got into a rut there, for whatever reason, where we were just trying to outscore them, and that's not who we are. I think they responded with the message they got at halftime. They came out in the second half — obviously, the first ten or so minutes of the second half was Louisville basketball. That's what we expect. We held them to 27 percent field goal defense in the second half and did a good job. Anytime—obviously, when you force 27 turnovers, you're doing something right. Like I just told the guys, we have a lot to get better at, which is—after the first game, or first exhibition game -- any coach is going to say that. We also have a really good foundation to build on. We have a lot of talent. The most impressive thing to me with our team right now is they share the ball. These guys—nobody's trying to score theirs, they play unselfish. I mean, they really, really pass the ball well. All things considered, first time out, pretty good. We have a lot to work on, but overall, pretty pleased with the effort."

(Rebounding in the second half being better) "It was, it was just our mind set. We had some easy success in the first half scoring against them, so now we were trying to leak out a little bit and score on the break instead of stopping and rebounding the ball. There for a couple minutes in the first half, they either scored or we turned them over that is why their field goal percentage was so high. But we responded. I got on our older guys a little at halftime which they knew was coming. I said it was unacceptable. This is not the way we play and then they responded in the second half and that was good to see."

(About the ball movement in the first half? It seemed very crisp) "It was and I have been seeing that for four weeks now. With these older guys that played together for a while now. Even the younger guys, Darius (Perry) I though came in and did some really good things. You know it all starts with Q (Quentin Snider). He gets us going. Deng (Adel) has had a good mind set as far as getting the ball in the lane and distributing. Anas (Mahmoud) had four assist, Q obviously five assists. You know these guys are just playing unselfishly and playing for each other which is great to see."

(About Anas Mahmoud tonight -- 20 points 10-11 shooting) "I am always going to be a tougher critic on Anas than most. The play at the end of the first half where he fell asleep and got beat back door for a layup. He looked over at me before the guy even the guy laid it in because he knew what was coming. He did a lot of good things, but he has got to rebound the ball better. He got one defense rebound in 27 minutes and he is a seven-footer. That's got to change, but he knows it, but again there's lots we have to work on individually and as a group, but all things considered not too bad."

(About first time coaching against another opponent) "I was nervous. I not going to lie. Like I said before if I wasn't nervous I think there would be something wrong with me, but it was different walking down the sidelines. These guys just make it easier for me. I try to coach the game like I do in practice. Obviously, I don't have a whistle and I can't stop it when I see a mistake. It is just different. The one thing I did notice when you are a head coach in those timeouts, man those things can feel like ten minutes long. You kind of run out of stuff to say. It was good though. That's one of many to come, but it was good. I'm glad I got it out of the way."

(About the substitution rotation) "To be honest it was just based on the last couple of days in practice. You know Jo had earned it playing the way that he did in the scrimmage the other day. I felt like he earned a chance. But I do have to say Darius came in and he played the two a bit with Jo (Griffin) there for a minute and he kind of sparked us. Darius what he needs to understand is he needs to get us going on defense, he needs to come in the game and be a Russ Smith, Peyton Siva type player on defense and just dog the ball. I thought that his attitude was really really good tonight in that regard when he came in. Because when he wants to he shouldn't get beat off the bounce by anybody and obviously Dwayne (Sutton) has had great practices even dating back to last year. He gave us a big lift in the first half by hitting those threes. I'm glad all the guys got to get in and play some minutes, yah know we got a lot to build on.

(About Sutton's strength being shooting the three) "He's improved it since last year there's no question about that. When he came in last year that wasn't a strength of his but he's worked hard on it, improved it, and his arc has gotten better. But he's shooting it with confidence and it's one of those things where if you make the first one and all of a sudden, you're relaxed and then the next two or three are going in. But again, these guys really really understand for a team that's only been together for four weeks, that the more you pass the ball, the more shots you get in return and it's great to see."

(On Ray Spalding on being assertive) "I think it was a little nervous, maybe at the beginning. The first play of the game. when we drew up to get him the ball inside and I think he got a good look, he just missed it. And then he missed another easy one and that happens. Sometimes he's just going to have nights like that but he responded well. He had seven rebounds, had a couple turnovers, travel, offensive foul, that kind of stuff, but he's going to be a great player for us, there's no doubt."

(Did you see a problem with the difference in 3-point shooting in the first half and the second?) "No, because as long as they're all good looks. I told Jordan (Nwora) at the time out, which I don't need to tell him, I said 'keep shooting. You're open, just keep shooting the ball.' Lance (Thomas) missed a couple of open ones. All those guys have confidence. Malik missed a couple, Jo (Griffin) missed a wide open one. As long as they're good shots, I'm fine with them-- I don't care if they're 0-for-50. As long as they're good shots, I want them to keep taking them."

(About Malik (Williams) with 20 minutes tonight, what did you think of his performance?)
"He did some good things. Where he and Lance (Thomas) both have to get better is just learning our defense. They have a high school habit, because you don't want to get into foul trouble, when somebody drives at you, you kind of slide to the side and get out of the way. It's just something we've got to work on. Especially with the way they changed the rule last year where if you're a big guy and somebody drives into you, if you leave your feet and you keep your arms vertical, you're entitled to that area and that cylinder as well. It's just something we've got to work on but the effort is always there with all those guys. We've just got to get better each day, one day at a time."

(The spot you took in the court just taking a knee right there in front of the bench, is that where you think you're going to be?) "Well, I tried to get down into a catcher's position a couple of times. I just can't do that, my knees can't handle it. I told Vinny (Tatum) to make sure there was a towel there for me to sit on. But it's just a part of feeling this whole thing out. It's just easier for me to get down on one knee, but the problem is sometimes I get too close to the sideline and here comes the ref. I don't want to trip him. Again, it's going to be a little bit of a feel-out process here for me as well."

(How big is it to have this tape now, in between now and Bellarmine? Do you expect for them to improve, because you got to show them something against somebody else?) "No question. There's going to be a lot of good stuff from this tape and there's going to be a whole lot to learn from. The good news is they're willing to learn. Yesterday in practice I challenged them a little bit defensively and they responded in practice and I thought at least for the first 10-12 minutes of the first half tonight we were pretty good. We just hit a lull there where we let them get hot, but they responded again halftime. The good thing about playing this team and playing Bellarmine, which is why we usually do it, is they are two completely different styles. This team was a lot off the bounce, penetration, isolation, and Bellarmine as we all know is one of the best passing and shooting teams in Division II, if not the best. It is two completely different styles and we got a lot to work on, but we just have to take the next six days and get better.

(Is there a big towel sponsorship possibility for you here?) "No, I just told them have one out there, and then I found myself way up by even Bob (Valvano) and Paul (Rogers) on the radio, so I'm sure people were hearing me on the radio because I was yelling out way up there. Just pick and choose my spots. I'm not going to be one of the guys up on the sideline walking up and down the entire time, but I just got to feel it out, as I go.

(Who was the most vocal of your assistants tonight?) "Greg (Paulus) is very vocal in game from a coaching standpoint. That's just his personality and that's why I love him, that's why he's going to be great. Trent (Johnson), he'll say things when he needs to, but he's also in my ear. He obviously helping coach the team, but he's helping coach me a little bit too and that's why I hired him. He's got 17 years of head coaching experience, it's invaluable. All things considered, from players aside, even the coaching standpoints. Even in timeouts. It's funny yesterday at the end of practice we practiced the timeout. I had Coach G (Ray Ganong) sit on the end of the bench, run out and one of the players was like 'do we stand up on the bench when the horn rings' and I go, 'No, unless you want to get tackled by Coach G, you better stay seated."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Anas Mahmoud

Quentin Snider

Ray Spalding

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