Louisville vs. Bellarmine

University of Louisville head coach David Padgett
(Opening Statement) I? knew this game was going to be like this, since watching their game last week against Cincinnati. I mean a team that wins 32, 34 whatever something games last year that returns 11 players I? knew it was going to be like this. I? knew that it was going to be a war. They're too well-coached, they're too experienced to come out and just get blown out. I? told our guys and they knew it. You know a team like that is tough. You can try to simulate it in practice as much as you want but at the end of the day, they work on it every day so. I? thought the best part to me was that I? thought even though our offense wasn't obviously working in the first half, we didn't let that effect our defense you know we held them to 37 percent they were five for 24 for three for the game. They started scoring from around the rim a little bit more than they do. I told our guys before the game, I said Look we have to defend the 3-point line guys, I said you got to try to make this team beat you from trying to make two-point shots and they couldn't do but. I would not be shocked if that team was the national champion Division II, I mean they are that talented and that well coached, they just play together. It was a good experience for us, you know, we had a little adversity. Good for me, good for our players. But we're happy that we came out on top and now we got to get ready for Sunday, cause that's when it starts to count. So we will take a day off tomorrow and get ready on Thursday."

(On what he saw with the unforced turnovers) "Yeah, we were just being careless with the ball. We knew from the scouting report that they're a heavy, heavy dig team. What I mean by that is when you take a dribble towards the rim, they're going to have somebody converge on the ball and slap down and we just didn't pay enough attention to it. You know we knew that we had to get to the corners, the problem was the guy with the ball wasn't being strong enough. He got it slapped out of his hands and we have to make the pass a little bit earlier. But that's where this team has really improved, Bellarmine I mean defensively. They forced us into 20 turnovers some of them were careless by us but at the end of the day we didn't let our offense effect our defense for the most part which is good to see."

(On avoiding rushing on offense) "You know a team like this they work so hard to protect the paint that when you're a big dribble penetration team like we are and all of a sudden it's taken away, it's a little bit of adjustment. You know last week we were able to get in the paint a little bit more and kick out but you got to give them credit. A lot of it was us just being careless but a lot of it was them defensively they were locked into what they needed to do. But we made the adjustment in the second half we didn't give up I mean Q ( got in the lane a couple of times, Deng got in the lane a couple of times and made the right pass and you know it worked out for us."

(On playing Quentin Snider 37 minutes tonight) "Yeah there's no question, I mean we were in a little bit of a tough spot because obviously Ryan McMahon is out, Jo Griffin sprained his ankle pretty good the other day in practice the other day so we didn't have him. Darius Perry has been practicing a lot at the two spot and he had been practicing well. He and Quentin Snider were in there together a lot, but obviously we don't want Q (Quentin Snider) playing 37 minutes right out of the gate but at the same time, it was important that we had him on the floor. I mean he's the one guy who had six assists and two turnovers and doesn't turn the ball over. So even though he didn't have a great shooting night he didn't let it affect the rest of his game."

(About underclassmen coming off the bench and contributing) "You know I told them after the game I thought Jordan and Darius both gave big minutes tonight and that is because they have practiced well ever since the game last week. Every day in practice, their mindset was really good. They were locked in on what we were trying to do and Jordan listened to what I told him, 'you got to do more than just try to shoot the ball.' He took that to heart, he was working on his defense this week in practice and you see his eight rebounds which is huge. You know we need our guards to rebound and for him to come in for 15 minutes and get eight rebounds is huge."

(On what he told VJ King before second half) " I told him to stay with it. He had a couple of open 3's. He made his first one of the game then he missed a couple wide-open ones. Confidence is a big thing with VJ. I just don't want him getting down on himself. I said, 'you just have to play through it.' Try and impact the game in other areas and he struggled a little bit. A lot of that too, was what they were trying to do. VJ is very good about getting in the lane and they took that away but it's going to be like that some nights for some guys. But that's where we're fortunate enough to have guys like Jordan Nwora come in and get eight rebounds. It's good to have options to put in."

(On team's readiness for opening season) "I think we're in a good spot. Obviously, we got a lot to work on as I'm sure all other 350 teams in Division I would say that as well. What I was pleased with was defensively, while we didn't play well in stretches last week, I thought we came out today and in the first half we held them to 37 percent and 23 percent from the 3-point line and they focused in on that. And not letting our offense affect our defense. We were turning the ball over. We were missing shots. We were doing uncharacteristic things with the ball the first half offensively. We locked in on defense and held them to 23 points. A team like that is tough to prepare for but it's also good prep for Sunday because George Mason plays a little bit of a similar type system."

(On conversation with Scott Davenport) "He and I have known each other for 13 years now. Obviously, I have a great relationship with him and his son. I told him, after the game, you got a heck of a basketball team. And he knows that. When you have 11 players back from a 30+ win season, you know that. They're going to make some noise this year. I'll be really surprised if they don't. It's a tough style to play against. You can do whatever you want to prepare for it but if you can't simulate it in practice, it's tough to get ready."

(On his plan to use bench more for tonight's game) "I just thought Dwayne Sutton, Jordan [Nwora], and Darius [Perry] had great days of practice leading up to this game. They seemed to understand it and were locked in defensively. A team like this you're going to have to go small at times just because there's so much perimeter defending but like I told them after the game, I'm just going to go with the guys who give me trust in practice. I thought those guys did that the most that's why they played."

(On message to Anas during first half) "I just told him we were doing careless things. They were front in the post. I said whoever the guy on the post is, just turn and seal him. The other guy will be a wide open for a high low. Ray turned and sealed him, Anas caught it and then he just threw a careless pass out of bounds. It's just little things that are uncharacteristic of our experienced guys. Even though he had nine points, he had 11 rebounds and six offensive [rebounds] which was great to see. They adjusted, and you have to give them credit, they adjusted well because we told them, every time you drive the ball, they're going to look to pass. Well, in the second half, they knew we were staying home and not helping so they just started scoring and Anas started to protect the rim a little bit better. He just has to be more assertive and I mean that from a defensive and rebounding standpoint but he responded in 11 rebounds tonight."

Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport
(Opening Statement) "Our goal tonight was to be better than we were against Cincinnati a week ago in Freedom Hall, and to a man we are. Our guys deserve a tremendous amount of credit, we were 10-deep tonight, and I didn't play Caleb Taylor just cause of an inside low-post matchup. That was two teams playing as hard, and as much together and sharing the ball as you can see. I can't speak for David (Padgett), but I know it's helped us immensely. I've stood up here every year to say how thankful that our entire basketball program is, because this game makes us better. You can't simulate that if I brought in five Hall of Fame coaches, what we just got to face for 40 minutes at both ends of the court. You have dead hands, they make a shot. You're lazy with the ball, it's a steal and a dunk. But I'll give our guys a tremendous amount of credit in terms of their preparation. I think we had a huge advantage going against Cincinnati last week, facing pressure for 40-minutes that was very similar, because we can't simulate that in practice. Incredibly proud of our guys. It's tough coaching, because now we have two days to get ready. We have games in Indianapolis on Friday and Saturday that have postseason ramification because they are Midwest Region games, both games Saginaw Valley and Northwood. They have to count, we're ready to go. People make fun of me, everybody in this room makes fun of me, 'he loves his guys…' If you saw them open their chest up, pour their heart out tonight, you're right, guilty as charged, I love my guys. I thought they held themselves, we played 10 people 40 minutes, and that's not going to change, it's like that every day in practice, every day."

(How have these first two games help you get ready for the season ahead? Some different styles)
"Oh my gosh, yes. We go from Cincinnati to Mount St. Joseph, a total Division III team that runs all press in and won 20 games last year. Those backdoor passes without even looking. We did that on purpose with one-day prep because that happens in our league and then you play on the grandest stage there is - this facility. That team, I told David (Padgett), we saw both Red-White games, we saw the Wesleyan tape. The play hard, they play incredibly well together, and they shoot it very, very well. There will never be a championship team that doesn't have those three components and they have all three of them and I will be the biggest fan in this town without a doubt. Nobody is going to cheer harder for them than I will."

(How did you limit their fast break points tonight?) "You've got to be efficient on offense. That's a great question because what happens a steal or a punched ball – the most amazing statistic on the entire sheet was that they had only had three steals and we had 14. But that's us playing team defense in our gaps the way we have to play. So our guys grade out very, very high on that, because we know we are not going to be able to stop them one-on-one. Five one-on-one games, we are going down all five. Everybody talks about us passing the ball, where we've redefined ourselves in the past three years is we are playing team defense. Why can't you play defense together like you play offense together? And tonight was a great example of that. I am so proud of them and it should be. It's our third year of doing it and they bought in. They love it, because every time we scored the other team does get the ball. It's not make-it, take-it like in a park. You got to play together on both ends of the court. It's fun to see it, it's fun to coach it because it's a team game."

(How did David Padgett do as a head coach?) "Tremendous, what I said to him before the game, shook his hand, I said you are an incredible young man. And I'm speaking when I was on the staff and he was here. I said, 'you are an incredible young man and just be who you are,' because that will bode well for every facet in his life, because he is a tremendous young man. And that is exactly what I told him before the game and he thanked me very much, just because that's him. They're going to be fine. They are great young men. You look at that basketball game out there tonight; you had guys competing as hard they as they can compete at both ends for 40 minutes. The winner tonight was the game of basketball, because of the respect level. That's why the game won. The respect level is through the roof. I know it is from our basketball program to theirs."

(How much of David's game do you see in Adam (Eberhard) or bring Adam toward that?) "No, David was such a student of the game. And you know you've got a lot of players who watch a lot of film and study the game, but what makes those players extraordinary like when David played is others guys who love playing him. That's the ultimate test. It's one thing to watch hour after hour of film and say I really understand the game, but when other players embrace that you understand the game, and they love playing with you as a player. You know our quote, the goal in our locker room is 15 players, four coaches, four student managers, a trainer, a strength coach, trying to make each other better, if you can do that with talent, it's a real powerful, powerful equation right there."

(Your team got around 20 points and made a nice little run to get it back down to 10. What does that mean to see them fight back and push through?) "It was great, because they were mad in the huddle. It wasn't coming from us, they were angry. They were upset at themselves. It's like what I always say about goals, the greatest goals come from within, not from some outside influence. Those huddle came from them - that was great to see. That's where we've grown in the last week to 10 days. They're a lot of fun to coach. I apologized to a guy just now out there. He said, 'Coach, why are you apologizing, your kids played their hearts out.' And I said, 'did you enjoy watching them?' He said, 'my gosh! They were diving and they were cutting." And I said, 'but did you enjoy watching them?' and he said, yes. And I said, 'well, I'm so sorry.' And he said, 'why are you apologizing? What did you do?' and I said, 'I get to be with them every day. You got to see them tonight."

(What impressed you about your team during these two exhibition games against top 25 teams?) "Their willingness to learn. It's one thing, when you have students who want to learn. Classes are a lot of fun. And I measure that from Cincinnati from a week ago Wednesday to tonight, how much they've embraced learning. Like I said, when you teach a class and all the students run in there and they want to learn, class will be really good. If you have class and they all come in and put their heads down, you've got problems. So we're all in there working together. If I'm teaching, and I'm talking to Russ, I've got eight other guys listening, trying to learn from what I'm saying to Russ. As a teacher, that's a lot of fun."

(On Bellarmine's 14 steals) "Again, because it's team defense. It's not like we're pressing you. That's being where you're supposed to be. There's more than one way to be successful, the greatest lesson you'll ever learn in coaching. And we played defense in our other game against Wesleyan. And Wesleyan does a great job playing it their way. We play it totally different. It's just a different situation. There's a lot of ways to be successful in this game. There's no one way."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jo Griffin

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Darius Perry

Quentin Snider

Dwayne Sutton

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